Article By: Johnny Fontana

Why Stretch?

For years, the standard operating procedure has been, “If a muscle hurts, stretch it out.” The thought wins out, no matter what type of muscular issue you are having.  We seem to have a handful of stretches that have remained the “go-to’s” — the toe touch, butterfly, standing quad stretch, etc.  But people rarely question the ultimate impact of these stretches or how they affect the actual muscles in question.

Does It Work?

For those of you who are pretty physically active (hopefully everyone), there is no doubt you feel some discomfort in your muscles on a relatively regular basis. You might be tight, feel a knot or just have a different kind of discomfort going on. Have you ever stopped to think about what exactly is going on with that muscle?

The truth is, there are a number of issues that you could be having within the area of the body that is bothering you. Sure, often times you are just tight, in which case a little stretching will do the trick. But when you start to run into some consistent pain or tightness, it is time to think beyond your typical static stretch.

Whats Fascia?

Did you ever wonder what holds all of the muscles, bones, ligaments and tendons together? They can’t just be free floating around your body or muscles would start to look like frayed strings on a violinist’s bow. The glue that holds it all together is called muscle fascia. Yet despite its importance, muscle fascia has remains relatively unknown to the public at large.

Muscle fascia wraps around the structural organs, holding everything in place. In essence, it’s our bodies’ natural answer to Saran Wrap. If you were to look at a cadaver’s body with the skin taken off, it would look nothing like what you have seen in an anatomy textbook. In those books, you see very definitive attachment points and sections where the pec turns into the deltoid or where the bicep turns into the forearm. On a cadaver, every muscle runs right into the next because of the outside layer of fascia.

While fascia is extremely helpful in keeping everything together, if you mess with it, it will strike back. Repetitive movements that are not anatomically correct (i.e. the way are supposed to move) will cause issues with fascia and muscle. Scar tissue will develop in certain areas in order to help strengthen the weakened area. This is where you develop knots in your muscles, which become annoying and painful. This will further limit your movement and develop into an even larger problem.

Anatomy of a Stretch

Now think, if you have areas in your body which have scar tissue buildup — which you do — do you really think a regular old static stretch will help? Try tugging on a rubber band a few times, stretching it to its edge. As you go, the rubber band will loosen and be capable of moving further each time. Now tie a knot in that rubber band and start tugging on it. The knot will just get tighter and tighter, becoming harder to untie. This is exactly what happens to your body when scar tissue develops. Only instead of shrinking like the knot in the rubber band, it will just continue to grow.

Static stretching is not the cure to your pain in this situation. It actually could make the problem even worse. What you need to do is what’s called myofascial release. I am assuming that many of you guys have at least seen a foam roller. The foam roll is the most popular tool used when looking to do a self myofascial release. Although there are many other things that can be done, a foam roll is one of the easiest tools to get your hands on.

The Fix

Performing myofascial release will help break up the scar tissue and bring blood to the affected area. The blood will bring nutrients and help heal up the inflamed spot you are working on. Areas that are more inflamed tend to need more work and can take weeks and more extreme measures (beyond a foam roll) to heal.

In either case, it is smart to do both stretching and myofascial work on your muscles, especially in areas that receive a lot of stress. I don’t expect you to be able to spot areas that are just tight as opposed to areas with fascial issues (scar tissue build up). So below I have included some good foam roll exercises that help out areas that typically receive a lot of fascia issues.

Foam Roll IT Band

Foam Roll Calves

Foam Roll Quads

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I encourage any questions or comments, please:

Leave a response at the bottom of the article,

E-mail me personally at jfontana@shadowfit.com

or Tweet me @johnnyfontana on Twitter

Recovery, or regeneration, is sometimes a forgotten part of training. To make continual improvements, adequate recovery is required for your body to adjust to the increases in work load, and to help avoid fatigue, and chronic injuries.

Recovery is a topic that has received quite a bit of focus in the last decade, and is a component of training, that could provide the largest area of performance improvement in the future.

Understanding work-to-rest ratios, hormonal changes, endocrine function, blood chemistry, and circadian rhythms can influence the individual differences in how we recover from exercise.

Some Recovery techniques include: massage, a hot and cold shower, ice bath, slow bike ride, or a slow level tempo run, stretching, and meditation, to name a few.  One of my favorite recovery methods is a quick soak in the Gulf, when the water temp is in the mid to low 70″s. It has a very synergistic effect on my body.

Remember to live, to train another day.  Progressions on every level take time. So learning how to progress your workout in a safe manner, and taking time to recover, will aid you in your goals, and keep the fatigue, and nagging injuries away.

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Rick Lademann

Sports Performance Coach

http://www.go2beyondmotion.com

In the world of infinite technology and one click information that we live in today it is hard to believe how many training myths and beliefs have carried on over the years.  One of the most detrimental myth’s is that every time you step into a gym you have to have a brutal workout and that you should workout 5 or 6 days a week to get real results.  A brutal workout is not by any means bad for you and exercising 5 to 6 days a week is not incorrect, but the way you go about it may be.

Regeneration is a word that is somewhat new, highly ignored and even more unapplied in the fitness community.  What many fail to realize is how important rest and regeneration is in order to get maximum results.  When you exercise and lift weights you a producing a stress to your nervous system and muscles.  Most people are aware that you are tearing your muscle fibers when you workout and that it is only way to gain hypertrophy (increase in muscle size) or strength.  What many do not look at is how you get those muscle fibers to grow back bigger and stronger.  Most exercisers do an awful lot of tearing down and nothing to build it back up.  If an individual continues with this pattern that will ultimately be “overtrained” and until they can get out of that state, they will be hurting themselves rather than helping.  This is not just true for those who are looking to gain muscle mass but also those who are looking to lose weight, tighten up, gain weight or get in great shape for an athletic competition.

So, how do you go about the regeneration process in order to maximize results?  Every individual is different, so regeneration for everyone will vary.  There are a few things you can do in order to put yourself in a great position for maximum results.

• Take active rest days.  Active rest days, can be thought of as very light workout days where you get your body to recover from the training stress on prior days, but most importantly to allow the mind to recover.  On these days you will doing something light and for a short time such as flush your legs by a light 15-30 minute bike ride, give yourself Self Myofascial Release (using a foam roll or massage stick), stretch, get a massage, or partake in a light sport or activity that you enjoy such as golf of shooting a basketball around.  Active rest days should typically follow up 2 or 3 days of consecutive workout (i.e. Monday and Tuesday: workout, Wednesday: active rest, Thursday and Friday: workout)
• Take a week to unload, especially when changing programs.  Unload weeks should be taken following 4-6 weeks of consecutive exercise.  A typical day during an unload week will be much shorter in duration than your other workouts.  These workouts will be around a half hour but will be at a higher intensity.  In other words you will do less sets, less reps but a higher weight (for those who are trying to get more muscle or strength).  Those looking to lose weight or maintain should cut their workload as stated previously, and limit their amount of rest.  These workouts should be short, quick and to the point. This will help you maximize the gains from your previous program and help you get ready for the next progression in the workout.

Active rest days and unload weeks may seem like two simple steps but are very important to ensure that you are receiving maximum results in your training program.  If you continue to beat yourself up day in and out without rest or unload you will find that you are overtrained.  Overtraining is why many people quit a workout routine; they stop seeing gains that they were making before (a.k.a plateau).  Take a smart, scientific approach to training rather than the “no pain, no gain” meat head approach.  Rest doesn’t mean you’re a sissy or a whimp, but rather that you’re smart.

Many times when we hear about “powerfoods”, the experts are talking about fruits, vegetables or other food varieties.  A lot of the time these are either expensive, really hard to find or not that great tasting.  Many people have a very hard time with their diet and everyone is telling them to “eat more protein”, “stop eating carbs”, “cut out sugar” or “watch out for fats”.  It is nearly impossible to be able to just pick one “diet” or rule to live by and expect it to work for everyone.  However, there are some amazing spices and seasonings that can be used everyday and do some great things for your body.  With no further ado here you are:

Ground Cinnamon: NOT CINNAMON SUGAR.  Sure it tastes great on toast with some butter, but it can hardly fall in the category: super spice.  Cinnamon has been proven to regulate blood insulin, which is highly important if you are body composition (body fat) conscious. This will help the insulin work towards building lean muscle, which everyone wants.

How To Use: If you are someone who enjoys a post workout shake, sprinkle some cinnamon in there.  Otherwise use it with breakfast foods or with fruit such as apples, pears or bananas.

Sesame Seeds: These powerful little seeds found many times on breads (hamburger buns, bagels) actually have great health qualities.  Sesame seeds have plant compounds that go by the name of lignins.  Lignins have actually shown in some studies studies to burn fat.  They also help normalize blood pressure and improve vitamin E absorption.  Sesame seeds are packed with magnesium, fiber, iron and potassium.

How To Use: This one is easy; sprinkle them on salads, meat or vegetables.  The flavor is not too powerful at all and really can be used with anything.

Turmeric: This is the spice that makes Indian food yellow, and is a main player in curry.  Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory, has anti cancer properties and looks out for the liver. Seeing how many illnesses, diseases and pains come from inflammation, the more you can get the better.  This is likely the one seasoning you are not using, which you should start to.

How To Use: This taste good on just about everything, really it does.  Scrambled eggs go great with turmeric and many different dinner combinations.  Look up some curry recipes and load it up with turmeric.

Oregano: You have likely heard a lot about foods being antioxidants; well here is an antioxidant seasoning.  This one definitely has a lot of healing properties and is likely one you are using and do not realize how good it is for you.

How To Use: This one is obvious; dinner is spiced up with some oregano.  Use it with just about anything and it adds some great taste to your dish.

Garlic Powder: Hopefully by now many of you have heard that garlic is great for lowering cholesterol.  Seeing how it can be a pain to chop up some garlic for every meal, use the powder when you’re feeling lazy.   Not only will it help lower cholesterol, but also it has been shown to be full of antioxidants, and help prevent infections.

How To Use: Anything that you would throw garlic on, throw garlic powder on.  Although nothing beats the real deal of raw garlic, powder is great when you are in a rush and don’t have time to chop up a clove.

Stop That: 5 Signs of Overtraining

Most of the information you see online and in magazines is about diet or exercise, while little attention is placed on the possible burnout you can get from all of it.  When you become overtrained you drastically reduce your performance, and the ability to make personal gains.  Continuing to exercise while you are in fact overtrained will do more harm than good and for sure be avoided.  There may be some question as to when you are actually overtrained and when you are just having an off day.  For that purpose we will address these issues with 5 signs of overtraining.  With no further ado here they are:

1)    Pain or Soreness:  The first thing that can tip you off to overtraining is abnormal pain.  If one day you develope wrist pain during a session, then a shooting knee pain performing a movement that normally is pain free this may be a warning.  If you are getting constant aches and pains or get a pain that is nagging every time you exercise, this may be a heads up that you need some rest.

Soreness also falls into this category.  While it is great to be sore from a workout, you shouldn’t be abnormally sore.  In other words, if it is taking 4 or 5 days for your soreness to go away you may be overtrained.  This is a sign that your body is behind the stresses you are placing on it.  It cannot catch up and regenerate the muscles and neurological system compared to how much you are challenging it.

Tips:  Be aware of how your body feels and realize the difference before a one-time pain and a pain that is consistent, nagging and may turn into a sidelining injury.  Pay attention to how many days you typically experience muscle soreness after workouts.

2)    Decrease in Performance:  This one is pretty obvious and should be easily spotted.  If you are normally able to workout at a high intensity through a workout and lately you been dragging in the gym, that’s a sign.  If your weight lifting ability has gone down that could be another sign.  If the weights you used in previous sessions are now much more challenging to you then before, it is likely that you need some rest.

Tips:  Keep track of your performance, including your willingness to train or the weights that you use in certain exercises.  If you know that you are struggling with the workouts this week, there is likely a reason behind it.

3)    Recovery and Heart Rates:  Based on your style of exercise; recovery in between sets or your heart rates are a good sign of overtraining.  If you are focusing on heavy lifting or are really weight specific, pay attention to how much time you need in between sets.  It probably means something if last week it took you 2 minutes in between sets of squats in order to rip out 5 reps, and this week you need 3 or 4 minutes.

If your workouts are metabolically intensive and you are challenging your heart rates then pay attention to those.  Is it taking much longer then usual to get your heart rates up?   Is it taking longer then usual to recover and get your heart rate down from a specific exercise?  These are signs that your body is spent and having a tough time getting to a normal state.

Tips:  Track your recovery time in between sets.  If you are lifting intensive then pay attention to how long it takes in between sets until you are ready to go.  If you are metabolically intensive then keep track of your heart rates during exercise and for recovery.

4)    Tiredness: Hopefully you know that you should be getting between 6-8 hours of sleep a night.  If you are working out really hard then sleep is extremely important.   When you sleep, your body really goes to work at healing itself and cleaning up any toxins you have in it.  Your workouts are really stressful on your body, so sleep is a must.  Lack of sleep will wear you down probably faster then anything else.

Tips:  This one is easy; get your sleep.   A ton of research has been done on napping during the day.  Studies show that 20 a minute nap is highly beneficial to your body and mind.  If you have the time, take a nap.

5)    Sickness: A great alert that your body will give if you are really overtrained is sickness.  This usually will not happen unless you are really destroying your body, its basically your body pleading with you for rest.  If you suddenly come down with a cold over night and no one else you know is sick, this is likely because of training.  Now, don’t get a common cold mixed up with a cold from breaking your body down too much.  Pay attention to your surroundings; is anyone at work or in your social life sick?  If no then it is likely that it is just you pushing yourself to far.

Tips:  By the time you get sick from too much exercise you are likely pretty badly overtrained.  Stop exercise immediately and get some rest.  The best way to recover is to sleep a little extra, take some vitamin-C and eat tons of fruits and veggies.

Keep in mind that just because you suffer from one of the 5 above, does not mean you are necessarily overtrained.  Technically you walk into the gym in a slightly overtrained state just about every time you exercise.  However, these are a little more intense and can actually negatively impact the work you are doing.  Pay attention to these signs and if they start adding up together then think about taking a break.  Great ways to dodge the overtrained phenomenon is unloading every few weeks and to follow these tips that I gave in this writing.  You should never get to the point where you have to take a week off because you have gone too far with exercise.