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Tips For The Road

The world is a busy place. Crazy work schedules, taking care of the kids, planning the ever so important getaway to an exotic island and a new three part fitness program (supportive nutrition, resistance training and moderate cardio) designed to help you achieve the beach bound body of your dreams seem to leave only a few precious hours for sleep. Whether for business or pleasure, travel disrupts the normal routine. If the trip is work related, then your time may be consumed by business obligations. If the trip is for pure pleasure, then your worries may only consist of the number of hours to spend in the sun. Which ever the case, let us not forget about the dedication and hard work you have put into the new you and your fitness program. That’s right, this life changing path to health remains constant. So, what do you do when your favorite set of dumbbells (I don’t mean your trainer) are a thousand miles away and your treadmill wasn’t able to fit in your suitcase? A vacation from fitness would not be the best option. So, let’s get creative.

There are a number of pushing, pulling, core and cardio exercises that require only bodyweight for resistance. Adaptations made to your current fitness program can help to keep you on the right track to reaching your goal. For example, a dynamic chopping warm-up may simply be done without the use of a medicine ball by clasping your hands together. If your hotel room did not include a Free Motion machine for some tricep extensions, pull up a chair and give some dips a try. Another substitution would be floor push-ups instead of a barbell or dumbbell bench press. Easy enough, but let’s progress the push-up by putting your feet on the bed, close together, or even use a single leg support. This progression increases the intensity of the exercise and requires greater use of the core muscles for stability (don’t forget to draw-in your abdominals and keep your back flat).

Lower body exercises may be modified by performing the same action without dumbbells or other forms of external resistance. The number of repetitions can be increased to reach the desired amount of volume per workout. Let’s make it a little more challenging. By turning a basic squat into a single leg squat, we have not only increased the force output required by the lower body, but the core and balance requirements take the squat to a new level. Begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and pointed straight ahead, abdominals drawn-in, chest up, shoulders back and hands at your hips. Activate your glutes and lift one leg directly beside the balance leg. Slowly squat as if about to sit in a chair. Go as low as possible without compensation of correct posture. Then, push through the heal to end in a standing position. Don’t forget the other leg.

An inexpensive way to increase your arsenal of available exercises on the road is the use of resistance bands. They come in all different colors, lengths and intensities, from beginner to advanced and pack easily. Resistance bands are an extremely versatile piece of equipment. With the aid of a door attachment, exercises such as bicep curls, tricep extensions, rows, chest presses, swimmers, etc. are at your fingertips. Once again, with the absence of a Free Motion machine, a lat pulldown is only a rubber tube away. Attach your resistance band to the top of the door, place one grip in each hand and step back to maintain tension in the bands. Begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and pointed straight ahead, abdominals drawn-in, chest up, shoulders back. With a slight bend at the knees and a flat back, bend forward at the hips to approximately a 45 degree angle. Pull the grips to the top of your chest. Then, extend your arms to the starting point and repeat. To increase the intensity of this exercise, try executing with a single arm or standing on a single leg to recruit more core musculature and demand for balance and stability.

What about cardio? If running on the beach or through the streets of a strange city are not your thing, give some jumping jacks a try. Squat jumps will always make you sweat. Then, let’s kick it up a notch with some mountain climbers. Try one round of cardio made up of all three exercises. Repeat the three minute round four to six times and your cardio rounds are done for the day. For a more intense cardio work out, try a three minute round consisting of ice skaters, tuck jumps and butt kickers. For ice skaters, draw-in your abdominals, chest up, shoulders back, stand on your right leg. Push off of your right leg to jump laterally to your left side. Land on your left leg and push off to move back to the right. Bend your knees for a soft landing and explode to the opposite side. Be sure to keep your chest up and arms out in front. For tuck jumps, draw-in abdominals, chest up, shoulders back, feet hip-width apart and pointed straight ahead. Bend knees and jump up, bring your knees into the chest and land on both feet. Then, move onto butt kickers. Draw-in abdominals, chest up and jog in place. Kick your heals to your butt. Your legs will burn and your heart rate will elevate. After a fifteen to thirty second rest, repeat for an intense round of cardio.

Travel may disrupt your daily routine, but don’t let it get in the way of your fitness program. Even if you are unable to get to your program, exactly as it is written, try to be creative to adapt your work out to meet the needs or restrictions of your surrounding environment. As you are strolling down the beach with a new tan and the glare of the sun bouncing off of your toned abs, remember how much fun you had with your new work out and enjoy it.

Inside The Core

“I do two hundred sit-ups every day, that’s why I have a strong core.” Does this sound like anyone you know? This statement is common, even for those individuals who are not frequent flyers in their local gym. If two hundred sit-ups a day were the solution to your body having a strong core, there would be much less lower back pain in the world. According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, research has found that approximately 85 percent of adults in the United States suffer from chronic low back pain. These individuals have shown a decreased activity in muscles such as the transverses abdominis, internal obliques, diaphragm and deep erector spinae. (That’s right, abs were mentioned.) How can this be when two hundred sit-ups are part of the daily routine?

The core is so much more than the illusive six pack we all would like to show off at the beach. The core is defined as the central section of the body consisting of the cervical spine, thoracic, lumbo-pelvic-hip complex, and all of the muscles that attach to these specific areas (there are 29 muscles that attach to the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex). This is where the body’s center of gravity is located and were all movement begins. It is your body’s foundation. If you were to build a new home and focused only on the structural integrity of the foundation supporting the front of the house, a lack of strength in the rear would be cause for concern and a possible collapse. Your body works in the same way. A strong rectus abdominis and external obliques, but weak stabilizing muscles may result in low back pain or injury due to unwanted motion of the individual vertebrae. This would create problems in the rear of your house. These muscles need to be strengthened in balance.

Two main functions of the core are stabilization and movement. In order for your body to produce efficient neuromuscular activity, these two systems must work together in a balanced and synergistic manor. The stabilization system consists of the transverses abdominis, internal obliques, pelvic floor musculature, diaphragm, transversospinalis, and multifidius. These mucles are made up of slow-twitch, type 1 muscle fibers, meaning they produce less force, are slow to fatigue, and have long-term contractions. The movement system is made up of the rectus abdominis, erector spinae, external obliques, latissimus dorsi, adductors, hamstrings, and iliopsoas. Strong stabilization will produce efficient movement. Weak stabilization will cause undesirable movement which may lead to injury.

Simple, daily tasks may become harmful when your core is out of balance. For example, when you go for the crumpled-up paper ball three pointer from across the room and have one of those rare misses, you have to bend over to pick up the failed shot. As you reach to the floor, you feel it, your back has “gone out.” Now, standing up straight to walk back to your chair has become a much too difficult task. Weak stabilization produced poor movement which has lead to injury. Strengthening exercises must be performed in order to reduce the possibility of these types of injuries. Sure, becoming a better paper ball shooter may decrease the number of times you have to bend over, but will do very little inside the core. A proper training progression will help to efficiently accelerate, decelerate, and support the entire body.

Training must be progressive, integrated and proprioceptively challenging. Our bodies work as one complete, functional unit with the origin of movement at the core. The first step in training the core is to properly execute the Draw-In Maneuver. By pulling your naval in toward the spine, the cervical spine has been put into neutral position. Immediately, improvements have been made to posture, muscle balance, and stabilization. This is the initial step for all exercises. Once mastered, an individual may progress to specific stabilization exercises. For example, a plank (forearm bridge) utilizes isometric muscle contractions for strengthening. Begin in a prone position (face down) on the floor with support on your hands and knees. Draw-in your abdominals and lower your body to be supported by only the toes and forearms. Be sure to keep your shoulders directly over your elbows and maintain a flat body position from your head to your heels. Hold this position for 20 or more seconds, based on your fitness level. You will feel your core musculature acting to stabilize and support your body.

With the increase of stabilization strength, integrating functional training, power, endurance, and proprioceptively challenging movements will help to develop balance throughout the core and improve neuromuscular control in the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex. A strong, balanced core will help the body generate more force with overall control. This benefit improves the function and efficiency of the elite athlete, the soccer mom, and everyone in between.

Once the understanding of the core has gone beyond the most visible musculature and we realize that the foundation of the body runs much deeper, we will be able to achieve greater results. It is important to change the mindset that sit-ups and crunches will be the solution. This is only a piece of the puzzle. Whether training for an athletic event or for better health and well-being, the genesis for improvement begins inside the core.

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