Injury Post-Rehabilitation: When Physical Therapy is Not Enough

It is pretty commonly understood after a major injury it is appropriate to see a physical therapist for follow-up.  The physical therapist's job is to get you back to doing "normal activity."  "Normal activity" is basically walking, maybe some light jogging, house work and a little yard work.  If you are going to be doing activity beyond those things I highly recommend Post Rehabilitation.

What is Post Rehabilitation?  Post Rahab is getting you back to normal activity for you!  That might include running, sprinting, sports, or other activities considered moderate to intense.  Generally physical therapy is going to focus primarily on the injury site, while post-rehab is going to focus on the whole body.  For example, if a person suffers an Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear the Physical Therapist is going to work primarily on range of motion activities, hamstring and Quad specific activities and some balance activity, almost exclusively for the affected leg.  The PT mostly wants to get that person moving normally again.

Post Rehab takes it to the next level.  When I administer a post rehab program for an ACL injury I generally do the following:

• Stability exercises for the ankle, knee and hip to address joint alignment on both legs.
• A hamstring exercise to continue to protect the ACL.
• An exercise to work on Glute (butt) and hamstring recruitment during squatting motions.  One of the things that can contribute to ACL injuries is high quadriceps dominance over the hamstring and glute.  The more even in strength the three muscle groups are, the less likely there will be a serious knee injury.
• One or two core strength exercises.
• A pushing or chest exercise to start to regain upper body strength.
• A pulling exercise, maybe two depending on upper body balance.
• And a whole body exercise to get everything working together again and firing in proper sequences.

The client who is serious about post-rehabilitation is less likely to re-injure, less likely to get an additional injury due to over use or overcompensation and more likely to be overall stronger and more stable.  For more information on post-rehabilitation programs visit www.canyonptandf.com or contact tom@canyonptandf.com 

What You Should Expect From a Personal Trainer: Before Your First Workout

You have just signed up to start working with a personal trainer.  You bought some new workout clothes because you deserve them, and although you are a little nervous, you are ready to blow your fitness goal out of the water.  You are not sure exactly what to expect, you are pretty sure you are going to be cursing someone the next day because you are too sore to use a toilet by yourself.  But in all reality, if your trainer is doing his job, you will pretty much know what to expect when you walk in and you probably will not as sore as you might think the next day!

Probably the most important, and often most neglected, thing a personal trainer does is the initial client consultation.  In my experience, most trainers gloss over this part.  I do not know if they do this because they do not think it is important, or it is not very sexy, or they are just lazy, but a thorough assessment is what a trainer should use to build a relationship with the client, learn about the client's medical history, understand the client's goals, past successes, failures, likes and dislikes and observe the body in motion to discover any previously unknown injuries, muscle imbalances or postural deviations.  In short, it is the process by which the first workout is built!  If all a trainer does is go over medical history and get a few starting measurements they are operating blindly and likely giving the client a cookie-cutter workout.

Here are the basic steps you should expect every client to take when starting with a new client:

1. Medical History:  A trainer should go over medical history in depth with the client to make sure there are no medical issues which need to be addressed prior to working out.  The medical history should also reveal any injuries past or current the client might have that need to be accounted for.

2. Goals, Past Experience, Likes and Dislikes: A trainer needs to understand the clients goals.  Too often a trainer will pre-judge a client and decide right away what his or her goals should be.  A trainer should be focused the clients goals, not his goals for the client.  A trainer needs to know what the client has done in the past.  Did it work, did they enjoy it, why are they not still doing it?  The client should have input in to the process.  Reaching fitness goals has to be a collaboration between client and trainer or it will never work.

3. Measurements: Almost every trainer takes starting measurements.  Most of them make a huge deal out of Weight, circumference, bodyfat, and any other measurement they can take.  Trainers are playing the odds.  They figure if they take enough of them one will improve and they can use it to demonstrate success.  I take the bare minimum of measurements.  What do I need so I can keep an eye on the client's progress.  But guess what?   A client knows if progress is being made.  Clothing starts fitting better, they feel better, they have more energy, they are better at their sport and all the other things that go with success.

4. Photos: A trainer should always take photos of clients performing simple movements such as squats.  There are two reasons.  First, even a veteran trainer has a hard time catching every postural deviation or muscle imbalance in real time.  Photos help the trainer see where the work needs to be done.  Photos are also great to show to the client so they can see an internally rotated knee or lateral hip transition or there potential area for injury.

5. The final thing a trainer needs to do is take time to talk to a client and get to know them.  What kind of lifestyle does this person lead?  Are there outside factors keeping them from being successful, are there mental barriers, who are the people in their lives who are good or bad influence.  This information can be critical in constructing a road map for success.

Hopefully your trainer did all these things before you started your workouts.  If he did not, you might want to ask why, and ask to do some of these things.  Next week we will talk about what a first workout should really feel like, and what you might expect to get out of it.  For more information of trainer best practices or how you can get started with a personal trainer email tom@canyonptandf.com or visit www.canyonptandf.com.

Are We Killing Our Kids With Sports? Part 3 of 3

Today I want to look at how a three sports, two sport or one sport athlete can maximize his or her athletic potential in the safest way possible and still carve out a path to playing at the varsity or even collegiate level.  Before we look at specific examples remember these things: If you are good enough, they will find you.  Very few people ever make a living playing sports; focusing on academics can often be worth as much in scholarship money as athletics and has more long term potential.  Regardless of how talented the athlete, they cannot play if they are injured.

Let's start with an easy example, the one sport athletes.  By the time they get to high school many kids have discovered they really only enjoy playing one sport and they are good at it!  I will use boys soccer as an example.  A boy interested only in playing soccer has an opportunity to play high-school varsity and club.  In many instances the clubs can be a better path to playing NCAA ball than high school.  The varsity season usually runs from late July to October and there is usually then a break until the club season starts up in February or March.  Most club seasons then run up to the beginning of the varsity season.  The key here, is the break.  For the two to three months of break the kid can rest his body a little, start a strength and conditioning program, spend time with friends and generally check out from soccer for several weeks while still working on being a better athlete.

A two sport athlete gets a little more complicated depending on the sports.  Let's use the common example of football and baseball.  Football runs from late July through October or November and is really only played in high school.  Baseball is a different story entirely.  It can literally run year around between club and varsity programs.  My recommendation is this.  Use the time between when football ends and high-school baseball begins as the off-season and get him into a good strength and conditioning program.  He should not spend any time on sport specific activities until about two weeks before baseball season begins.  At that time he can go to the batting cage and work on fielding and throwing.  Find a club baseball program that will let him participate only during the time between the end of high-school baseball and the beginning of football.  During the summer continue to do two days, about 30 minutes a day of strength and conditioning activities.  The strength gains will be minimal but it will help with maintenance and injury prevention.  About 2 weeks before the football season starts he can start focusing on sport specific activities again.  During the football season it makes some sense to take a 1/2 hour 1 - 2 days a week to get in the batting cage or throw a few balls.  The same could be true with throwing or catching footballs during the baseball seasons.

And now for the three sport athlete, or often the 7 season athlete.  I will use girls softball, basketball and soccer as an example if for no other reason I am familiar with them.  Because this player is going to be in-season 9 to 10 months out of the year for varsity sports, by default the summer has to be her off-season.  Have her focus on the sport that is in season.  During the fall when softball is being played (in Colorado, anyway), take about a 1/2 hour a day, three days a week and work on shooting, dribbling, juggling and ball handling.  I would recommend doing one sport each day and alternate so one week two basketball and one soccer, then two soccer and one basketball the next week and so on.  In the winter focus on basketball and do the same thing a 1/2 hour per day with softball and soccer, and then in the spring focus on soccer.   As a coach I would love to have this kid on my team, any team, at any level!  During the summer she should be doing a strength and conditioning program.  Many club teams are in search of guest players during the summer.  Pick one or two tournaments for each sport and contact club teams to find guest spots.  Although it is not an ideal off-season it is still better than playing full-on club ball year around, allows her to focus on building strength, speed and agiliy, and still gets her in front of college coaches.  Even if seasons are going back to back, I would insist she take a week between sports to decompress.

There are many, many different combinations of sports out there, and these are just common examples.  The key is focus on one sport at a time. Perhaps the high school sport is not as competitive  as a club sport but at least the kid gets to play with his or her friends and playing on a poor team can often be as valuable an experience as playing on a great one.  Anyone looking for more information on how to manage multi-sport athletes please e mail me at tom@canyonptandf.com

Are We Killing our Kids with Sports? Part 2 of 3

Last week I explored some of the disturbing trends I am seeing in youth sports.  I am seeing burnout at an early age, many use injuries to shoulders, backs, knees and ankles and kids stressed out about doing something that is supposed to be fun and build a love for competition and teamwork.  The question then, is what can be done?  How does a kid who dreams of playing at the college and wants to play multiple sports do it without tearing up their minds and bodies?

1. Insist on one day off every week and an off-season every year.  Think about this.  In 2014 LeBron James earned $72.3 Million (Forbes) in salary and endorsements.  The NBA season starts in October and ends in June.  It is an incredibly long season.  But it is still not year around.  One of the best athletes of our time being paid tens of millions of dollars still gets an off-season to rest his body, spend time with his family and hit the weight room.  And yet so many 15 and 16 year-old kids are expected to play 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Give the athletes time to recover, time to get stronger and time to be kids.

2. Never, ever, make it about money.  Ever.  I have many times heard: "I have to play in this tournament because my parents paid a lot for me to be in it."  or "If I don't get an athletic scholarship I won't be able to afford college."  What a load of garbage.  These kids are already competitive kids.  Their playing time is dependant on their performance on the field.  It is not okay to link their current or financial future to their sports performance at 15 years old.  There are an increasing number of adults who cannot handle the pressure of a high intensity, high performance job and you want to put that on a teenager?  Instead of dropping thousands of dollars on softball tournaments try investing that money in a college fund.  Two problems are solved.  And believe it or not there are infinite ways to get better at sports for little or no financial investment at all.

3. Restrict the athletes to one sport at a time but encourage them to play multiple sports.  The quickest way to burn a kid out is having them play two sports at a time.  Again, lets look at an adult example.  Let's say you have one full-time job (Going to school) and two part-time jobs.  You work 8 hours a day Monday - Friday at your full-time job and sometime have to work from home evenings and weekends.  You then work another 2 - 4 hours a day Monday - Thursday at your 1st part-time job and then another 2 - 4 hours 2 - 3 days a week and all day Sunday.  Would you ever know if you were coming or going, what you were supposed to do, or where you were supposed to be?  And what about those days when you are scheduled at the same time for two and sometimes all three of those jobs?  How do you decide which one you focus on?

Do, however, encourage kids to play more than one sport.  It is not out of the question a kid finds one sport they love and wants to play as much as possible.  This is where club sports can play a roll. A soccer player could play a high school season in the fall and a club season in the spring or summer still having a solid off-season.  But if the kid is an overall athlete and excels at and enjoys playing more than one sport, encourage it.  Most high-schools offer affordable and competitive programs at a relatively low price.  The programs are also heavily regulated by state athletic associations requiring days off, restricting playing time to a safe level and assuring coaching qualifications.   Multiple sports give the athlete a chance to switch gears to avoid burnout, teach new skills and make them better over-all athletes.

4. Stop being their agent and start being their parent.  I cannot stress the importance of this.  We are talking about children.  They have to check in every time they leave the house.  They cannot even drive themselves around and yet, I hear, "She is so driven and just wants to play all the time.  I cannot stop her."  More garbage.  Be the parent.  Parents need to help kids make responsible choices for their benefit and well-being not so parents can save a buck or live vicariously through their kids.  This is not every parent.  But it is more than anyone wishes to admit.  Parents need to put limits on the time kids play sports just like they do with television, video games or anything else.

Next week I will outline specific gameplans for specific scenarios to help kids start enjoying sports again and still have opportunities to to play multiple sports, play at the next level and be extremely competitive while still following the four rules I outlined.  If you have any specific scenarios you would like addressed e mail me at tom@canyonptandf.com.

Are We Killing Our Kids with Sports? Part 1 of 3

I have been working with young athletes for over 15 years now.  I enjoy it in part because there is seemingly no limit to their energy, ability to improve and drive to do so.  But more and more I am seeing a disturbing trend.  Kids are getting injured, burning out and coming to resent sports as early as 15 or 16 years old.  By the time many of them get to play at the college level they are so broken or resentful of the process they are either going through the motions because it is all they know, or done with sports.

Now do not get me wrong.  Not every student-athlete is washing out of athletics.  But I do see it more now than I did even 10 years ago.  I am sure there are many scientific papers out there about this but this is more about my observations.  I invite you to add any comments of your own or study references.  Here is what I am seeing:

Most athletes who have a chance to play in college are probably good at more than one sport.  They are just good athletes.  Even though they may be best at or enjoy one sport the most, they love competing with their friends and teammates in several different sports.  When they enter high school they are already 3 or 4 sport athletes and want to continue because they really enjoy it. Over the years athletic participation has become very competitive.  There are more student-athletes than ever competing for a limited number of sports scholarships.  Club programs offer an opportunity to play a sport year around during the high-school sports' off-seasons to get better and be more competitive.  The club programs often market themselves as the best way to get noticed or recruited by college coaches.  So you take a 3-sport athletes, give them the opportunity to play in a high level club to get recruited and suddenly you go from a 3-sport to a 5 or now even 6-sport athlete!  These athletes are also under pressure to perform in the classroom.  College athletic programs are taking grades more seriously than ever so academics count.

I more and more often see student-athletes playing a high school varsity sport and club sport in the fall, varsity sport in the winter, varsity and club in the spring, and 1 or 2 club sports in the summer.  Technically this becomes a 6 or 7 sport athlete.  Every spare moment they have is spent catching up on school work or practicing a sport on their own. Sleep is a secondary thought at best with many of these kids getting 4 - 5 hours a night regularly.  The seasons blend together and there is no time for recovery, rest, or strength training.

The 4 - 7 sport athletes I see have chronic over-use injuries.  Their shoulders are fatigued, sore and tight, their backs are sore and often spasm, they have weak hips, knees and ankles which often lead to strains and sprains.  By the time they are 16 or 17 their bodies are so worn down the student athletes are "band-aiding" themselves together long enough to get through a season or even a tournament.  Mentally they never get a break.

I will make an analogy:  Let's assume you love your job.  You cannot believe you get paid to do what you do and really enjoy going to work every day.  Now lets assume you have to be there 15 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Let's also assume someone runs a chair into your knee every day hard enough for you to feel it but it is not really painful.  And let's say they run this chair in to you 100 times a day.  Every day.  You have 6 or 7 different bosses all telling you to do your job better and all of them telling you how to do it and all of them having different ways they want it done.  How long do you think you would last?  I would probably make it 2 or 3 months and then just be done!  And we expect these kids to do it for years and years.  Think about it!

Next week I will explore some solutions.  I will talk about ways to build better athletes and start making sports fun again and less of a grind.  I will also talk about the reality of what it takes to play sports at the college level.  I welcome your comments and suggestions.  You can post here or e mail me at tom@canyonptandf.com.  And for more information on injury prevention visit www.canyonptandf.com.

The Biggest Reason to Stay in Shape May Surprise You!

The emphasis for most fitness articles, blogs, professionals, and television spokes-people with bad hairstyles is getting in shape.  They are forever showing pictures of normally attractive, but overweight men, women and children in the most unflattering clothing, poses and situations next to photos of, in theory, the same people ripped out of their minds standing next to supermodels on private yachts.  It is as if these people lost 20 pounds and were immediate showered with cash and became the most popular people at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition photo shoot.

But very rarely does anyone talk about the importance of staying in shape.  

Let's be clear.  Staying in shape is important for your heart health, cholesterol levels and all of those critical things.  But the other thing staying in shape does is help prevent injury!  And I am talking about really fun injuries like ruptured ligaments, sprained ankles and pulled muscles.  These are all things that can take you out of work, out of sports and out of day to day life for a very long time and are also quite expensive!

What does staying in shape have to do with this?  I will tell you!  When a person is out of shape and overweight, their body gets used to moving a certain way.  Over the years the body has learned its limitations and moves appropriately.  As a person starts to get in better shape, the body starts to move more efficiently.  It can run faster, move more quickly, lift more weight and do things it never used to do.  These abilities start to happen gradually as progress is made.

When a person stops working out, eating correctly, running or otherwise, gets out of shape, it can happen very quickly.  In two to three weeks of inactivity a person can lose virtually all the work they did.  However, the memo does not get to the body right away.  It will still try to move as if the person were still in shape.  So when a person tries to round second base and accelerate toward third, they can pull a hamstring, or when cutting to get to a soccer ball can rupture an ACL or sprain an ankle stepping off a curb.

So do yourself a favor.  Get your butt in shape, and stay there!  Give your body a fighting chance to stay in-tact and help you do the things you want to do.  For more information on getting and STAYING in shape contact tom@canyonptandf.com or duebersports.com.

The Trick to a Stronger Chest, Work on Your Back

I feel like I can hardly walk 5 feet without running across someone talking about how much they can bench, some "newest secret the experts don't want you to know" to make your chest stronger, or some reference to your pecs.  If you were visiting from a distant planet you would think being able to bench 225 is critically important to our survival, seconds only to breathing, consuming all meals in under 5 minutes and rock hard abs.

First, let's clear something up about experts.  We WANT you to know our "tricks."  We go out of our way to demonstrate our ticks in such a way as to show we ARE EXPERTS!  If all we did was run around announcing we are experts and then scurry under rocks you would be much less likely to believe us or pay us large wads of money!

Okay, as for your chest, and its strength.  I would like to mention, by the way, your chest is probably strong enough as it is.  If you can push the door open, or push yourself up off the ground you are probably all set in the chest strength department.  That is, of course, unless you are a professional athlete, or your job requires you to regularly push rocks up hills.  Then you need to constantly increase your chest strength.  So yes, to get a stronger chest you need to move heavy weight in the form of dumbbells, your body, large rocks, etc, but that is only part of the equation.  The other part is your back.  Let me explain.

Your body generally works best when you have balance between opposing muscle groups.  The closer in strength your quads are to your hamstrings the greater overall leg strength you have.  The same holds true for your upper body.  If all you do is chest exercise your chest tends to get tighter.  You might notice your shoulders are starting to wrap around forward a little and your palms are facing the front of your legs.  They should be facing the sides of your legs.  Your chest is now in a constant state of flexion.  And, because of this, can create less force.  Think of it as only being able to partially cock the hammer on a gun.  When the trigger is pulled it can not travel as far and cannot create as much force when striking the round.

If you have been neglecting your back and start to spend a little time on it you will likely notice two things: 1. Your back is nowhere near as strong as your chest.  Can you row as much as you can press?  Probably not.  Second, your chest is tight enough it is not allowing your shoulders to travel back as you pull an object back.  Start doing a ratio of 2:1 back exercise to chest exercise and stretch that chest!  Focus on squeezing your shoulder blades and keeping your shoulders low. Your chest will start to loosen up and your shoulder will start going back to where they belong.  Now you can fully cock that hammer and BAM!

For more on strength and muscle balance e mail Tom at tom@canyonptandf.com or visit canyonptandf.com.  Oh and for those of you following the story of my research assistant, she is two weeks post op, and doing very well.  With a little luck, today we lose the Cone of I Don't Know Why You Hate Me But I am Sorry for Whatever I Did and if You Take it Off I Will Stop Doing It And Love You Forever.

The three secrets to CRUSHING your vertical jump!

Okay, okay improving your vertical jump is not a secret.  There are no heavily armed, stern looking men standing alertly by the Black Book of Sports Performance keeping away everyone except the "experts."  And by experts I mean anyone with $20, a WIX account and the ability to take selfies of him or herself leaping, almost magically on to a plyo box.  And for only $29.95 they will share the secrets with you, risking harsh scowls from the Protectors of the Book.  There ARE, however, several logical steps you can take to improve your explosive power and thus, your vertical jump.

1. Start spending a little more quality time on you butt!  When a person jumps, every muscle in the lower body fires.  Yep, every one of them.  However, most people are so focused on the "Core Lifts," like squats, they end up over-developing their quadriceps, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis,intermedius and rectus femoris, which end up doing all the work.  Meanwhile our friends the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and hamstrings end up sitting back watching the show.  Start giving those guys some very specific attention and watch the vertical improve almost immediately.
2. Stop worrying so much about "Explosion!"  Don't get me wrong, explosive exercises are good, nigh, essential to improving athletic ability of all kinds.  But they are only one component. To understand why, you have to understand a little about muscle fibers.  There are essentially 3 types of muscle fiber: Type I, or slow twitch, Type IIa, fast twitch a, and Type IIb or fast twitch b.  Keeping it simple, Type I Fibers are responsible for slow movements like standing and walking.  Type IIa are responsible for jogging and a little sprinting, and Type IIb, mostly jumping.  So naturally people assume, work the Type IIb and they will be more explosive.  WRONG!  Well sort of.  They muscle fibers are a bit like the transmission in a car.  If you start a car in 3rd gear it will stall.  You start in 1st, then shift to 2nd, 3rd, Etc.  Well your muscles do the same thing.  First Type I fires, then type IIa then IIb.  Your body has to go through the entire sequence before you jump!  So yes, strengthen those fast twitch guys.  But to really CRUSH your vertical, give equal attention to the other two types of muscle fibers and work on reducing the time it takes to work through the firing sequence.
3. Change it up.  One of my favorite fitness rules: There is no magical exercise done a magical way that produces a magical result.  Your body needs variety.  If you do an exercise long enough, usually about four weeks, your body simply learns the firing pattern for that exercise. Once it does, your potential to improve using that exercise is essentially over.  When you do the exercise your brain says, "Oh yes!  We know how to do that under this load.  Here we go!"  and then you add weight at your brain says, "Um, no, we know how to do it at that other weight, not this weight.  I'm hungry.  I need a sandwich."  If you change the exercise regularly the brain never quite figures out what you want it to do so it has to keep working to get better and your body might even try to help your brain out and add addition muscle mass to get the job done.

So there you go!  These really are not secrets, just logical steps.  If you pay attention to these steps your vertical jump will improve!  For more information on improving sports performance please e mail tom@canyonptandf.com and check out my page canyonptandf.com. Happy jumping!

Want to avoid an ACL Injury? Here is how to do it.

Last week I found out my research assistant, Matilda, ruptured her ACL.  Many of you probably did not even know dogs have an ACL.  In fact they have two, just like their human friends.  And, like humans, dogs are prone to ACL rupture.  I wish I had known how common it is in dogs; I would have started ACL Injury Risk Reduction protocols with her.  Fortunately for you, the reader, Matilda's tragedy is your treasure, and I will outline ways you can reduce the risk of your own ACL injury.

Good Luck Matilda!

Let's start with some basics.  The Anterior Cruciate Ligament, or ACL is a little piece of tissue in the back of your knee which help keep your leg from falling apart, especially when your knee rotates inward.  Your hamstring, which is actually made up of three muscles, the semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris, helps stabilize your knee and protect the ACL.  Most, over 70% of ACL ruptures, or tears, are non-impact related.  It is the twisting, or internal rotation, that causes the injury.  I have seen athletes walking across a field, turn suddenly and then drop to the ground: torn ACL.  The injury almost always requires surgery and rehab lasting several months.  In short, it is considered a catastrophic injury, especially for an athlete.

Girls and women are at much higher risk for ACL injuries and science cannot point to any one concrete explanation.  It is believed a combination of a weak hamstring compared to the opposing quadriceps, the greater angle created by the femur and pelvis,  general joint laxity and a number of other factors could contribute.  The bottom line is every athlete, especially girls and women, should be participating in a program for ACL Injury Risk Reduction. 

The general consensus is no one ACL IRR program is better than another.  I have studied several of the established programs and taken what I feel are the best elements of each and combined them in to one program.  It incorporates elements of flexibility, lower body stability and strength and agility.  The program can be done on a field, or in a gym and does not require any special equipment and takes about 15 minutes.  You can download the program at canyonptandf.com for for free!

On January 29 2015, Matilda has surgery on her ACL and then begins a 10 week rehab process.  She will not be able to leave her bedroom without her leash and butt sling. Although few people require a leash, the recovery process for people is similar.  Take 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week to help protect your knees and if you have any questions please e mail me at tom@canyonptandf.com 

Slower metabolism or slower life?

As we all start to recover from our holiday hangovers I have heard a lot of talk about metabolism.  People say, "Gosh I wish my metabolism hadn't slowed down." Or, "I wish I had the metabolism I had when I was 16!"  People talk of their metabolism like it is their long lost companion who used to stand by, preventing them from gaining weight.  As if, when you were about to shove a piece of Chocolate Silk Pie into your mouth, Captain Metabolism would leap from the shadows, rip the piece of pie from your hand and valiantly consume it for you, thus saving you from the notorious "5 Pounds of Death."

Unfortunately, I do not think our metabolism is as much to blame as we might hope.  And to demonstrate why, I will use this very unscientific comparison.  And although it is not, on any level, even remotely scientific, I think it illustrates a point.

Let's take a look at the typical day for a teenager such as you once were.  Maybe you played a sport or two.  Maybe you had a job, maybe both.

6:30am: Alarm goes off.
7:00am: Alarm goes off and she actually gets out of bed, does her hair, puts on make up and grabs a quick bite to eat.
7:45am: School Starts.  Every 45 minutes she is up and rushing to another class because someone thinks 2 minutes is a perfectly logical amount of time to get from class to the locker to the commons to talk to friends because we cannot text during the day because our teachers suck but we do it any way and they don't know lololol and then to class.
11:00am  PE class which happens to be volleyball
12:30: Run to the car, drive qui... VERY carefully to Taco Bell for the first real food of the day, and drive VERY carefully back to school.
12:50: More sprinting from class to class.
2:45: Hurry and get ready for practice so as to have time to discuss all the important details of all the texts that may or may not have been sent during the day.
3:00: Practice!
5:15: Drive VERY carefully to work, eating a granola bar on the way.
5:30: Work, cleaning the grill, bussing dishes and waiting the occasional table.
9:30: Eat cold dinner
10:00: Start homework
1:00am: finally go to sleep after updating Instagram.

Now let's take a look at your typical day:
6:30am: Alarm goes off.
7:00am: Alarm goes off and you actually gets out of bed, do your hair, put on make up and grab a quick bite to eat.
8:00am: Arrive at work, sit in your chair, snack on the food in your drawer, and on the cookies Barbara, who is TRYING to make the entire office fat, brought in AGAIN and type.
12:30: Go to lunch.
1:15: Return to your chair and do pretty much the same thing you did that morning.
5:30: Go to the gym.
6:30: Collapse in a heap after your personal trainer kicks your ass for most of an hour after being 5 minutes late, doing a 10 minute warm up, chatting, complaining about Barbara and then starting your workout.
6:45: Prepare and eat dinner.
8:00: Collapse in a heap in front of the television because your day was EXHAUSTING.  In fact, you worked SO hard you deserve a piece of pie.
10:30: Turn off the news and go to bed.

Now before I get a bunch of nasty e-mails about how that is NOT your typical day and how your worthless teeneger sits around all day doing nothing, understand I am just illustrating a point.  As with anything health related there is always an exception.  However, the younger we are, the more we TEND to move.  What may seem like an exhausting day to us is a day off for a teenager.  So instead of blaming your metabolism, take an honest look at how much you move versus how much you consume.  Try eating a little less, and moving a little more and I bet our old buddy metabolism is back to the rescue!

If you have any questions about how you can move more, please e mail tom@canyonptandf.com or comment on the article below,  And visit www.canyonptandf.com for great ways to stay active!

New Year, New Resolve, New Plan for Success

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!  I know I did.  I was able to spend them with family and friends and really, one cannot ask for much more.  But it was soon time to get back to work. This week I was featured in the Longmont Times-Call and Boulder Daily Camera as a local expert on Making and Keeping New Year's Resolutions.  For the few people in Free America and around the world who do not actually read those topical, ground-breaking publications I thought I would share my incredibly creative, yet simple idea.

Step 1: Print out a blank calendar and purchase some fun stickers.
Step 2: Think of 5 small lifestyle changes you can make and do every day to help reach a bigger goal. For instance:

1. Eat 3 servings of vegetables each day.
2. Eat 3 servings of fruit each day.
3. Prepare all meals at home.
4. Exercise 60 minutes every day.
5. Stretch 10 Minutes per day.

Step 3: Put the goals and calendar somewhere you have to look at it every day.  The bathroom mirror is a great place!  By way of comparison, under a pile of paper on your desk is a bad place.

Step 4: Each time you do all 5 activities (YAY!) give yourself a sticker for that day!  At the end of the month grade yourself.  

    A= 28 - 31

    B= 24 - 27

    C= 21 - 24

    D= 18 - 20

Step 5:  Reward yourself.  Maybe an "A" is a new pair of jeans or a "B" is a pay-per-view movie. 

 And, believe it or not, you will find your results will be their own reward!  If you end up with an "A" it means you have made your goals all but three days out month.  Of course you are going to see results!

Give it a shot, I dare you!  Try it for 60 days and see how you do.  E-mail or post your questions or results.  For more information or helpful tips visit www.canyonptandf.com or message me at tom@canyonptandf.com.  Happy New Year!

Didn't Fall Out of Tree, This How To Video Could Save Your Shoulder

Christmas is two short weeks away.  ARE YOU READY!?  I am about done with my list and am working on my two final giftees: My nieces.  Allison is 5 and Sarah is 2.  The issue here is they have everything.  I do not mean they have everything they need.  That would imply they do not go without food and warm boots, which they do not.  But they also have everything they want!  Unless of course you consider an ipad a necessity.  If that is the case then you live with my sister on Planet Silliness in the Obscene Consumerism System.

The list I received for the girls is as follows:
Allison: Markers, plain white paper, every Barbie in the world and the Barbie Dream House.
Sarah: A digger, a horse, a unicorn and crayons and the Barbie Dream House.

Looking at my budget, which does not include horses, mythical horse-like creatures or anything Mattel calls a "dream" anything, it looks like Office Depot is the big winner when I go shopping this week.

"What does any of this have to do with shoulder, or fitness, or anything," you might ask?  I will tell you.  Today I am giving you, the reader, an early Christmas present!  I have produced a Jerry Bruckheimer-quality video so stunning and engrossing you will be riveted to your screen for at least 20 seconds.  The video contains stretches AND exercises for that non-falling-out-of-a-tree-related shoulder injury!  The stretches are as described in the "Falling out of the Tree..." post and the video has the added Straight Arm on the Ball bonus stretch because I forgot to ask the girls to do the "Straight Arm on the Wall Stretch."  The three exercises with the bands are great for strengthening the rotator cuff.

Thank you again to our excellent demonstrator Courtney and the newest addition to our demo team Megan!  They both play volleyball for the Niwot High School Cougars in Longmont, Colorado.

Please, as always, post or email tom@canyonptandf.com with questions or comments.  Now that I have more or less figured out how to create a video, look for more video blogs and be sure to visit us at www.canyonptandf.com.

Stretch your hips for you back demo photos/ Thanksgiving Edition

Happy Thanksgiving all.  I hope you are all preparing for or are recently recovering from eating obscene amounts of food.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

You might ask.  And I would reply, "There are many things wrong with me.  To what specifically are  you referring?"

And you would respond in a very judging tone, "How dare you encourage people to eat too much on Thanksgiving!  You are a horrible example!"

And I would say, slightly offended but mostly skeptically, "Look, one day out of the year someone, perhaps even yourself, goes through the trouble of getting up at the crack of dawn to roast a turkey, makes homemade everything from stuffing to potatoes to delicious vegetable casserole to an average of 3 - 4 pies per U.S. capita.  FOR THE LOVE OF GOD EAT IT!!  Be good the rest of the year.  Seriously, I dare you."

Anyway, once you are done stuffing your face with reckless abandon take a look at photos, as promised, for stretching your hips and strengthening your glutes for helping with low back pain:

Static Hip Stretch

This is another look at the static hip stretch as seen in the previous post.  Next we have a variation with a twist which gives the slightly more flexible individual a better stretch:

Static Hip with Rotation

And finally we have the starting position for glute strengthening.  Remember, 15 forward, 15 backward and 15 up and down.

Hip Circles

Thank you to Courtney for your help with photos and please "Plus 1," Forward or Comment to let her know we appreciate her work.  If you need additional information please visit www.canyonptandf.com or e mail me at tom@canyonptandf.com

Next week I will post the photos for the Knee Exercises Even You Can Do.  Until then, give these a try!  Oh and I highly encourage you to count and record your calories during Thanksgiving din...  Haha who am I kidding!  Happy Thanksgiving!

What to do for the non-falling out of a tree related shoulder pain.

Today we conclude our body part series with shoulders!  I want to start with yet another disclaimer.  If you fall out of a tree and land on your shoulder, seek medical attention immediately.  You should also seriously re-evaluate your choice of hobbies.  Why exactly were you climbing a tree?  Were the authorities in anyway involved?  Is there a pending restraining order?

But if you wake up one day and you feel a little discomfort in that shoulder or if you are getting a little discomfort doing pushing exercises I recommend a little light stretching before you commit to visiting the doctor's office.  Again, by way of disclaimer, if after 2 to 3 weeks you do not see significant improvement it is time to go see the doc.

Each of these four stretches is going to have a dynamic (moving) and static (not moving) component to it.  There will be a 5 count and then a 20 second hold:

1. Straight Arm Against Wall: Find a corner of a building, preferably one you belong in, and hold your arm straight out, even with the shoulder.  Place your hand on the wall and rotate your body so you feel a stretch in your chest.  Stretch and release, stretch and release 5 times and then hold for 20 seconds.
2. Bent Arm Against Wall: This is essentially the same stretch only you will bend your elbow 90 degrees so your fingers are pointing up.  Place your entire forearm (or as my friend Claire calls it the "forceps.") on the wall and do the same stretching technique as the the straight arm.
3. Arms Overhead: Reach your arms up overhead with fingers pointing toward the ceiling.  Shifting the shoulder upward, reach and relax, reach and relax, 5 times plus 20 seconds.
4. Hands Behind the Back: With straight arms, interlace your fingers behind your back.  Without bending at the torso, bring your arms away from your body and let them come back.  This is also done 5 times plus 20.

Do this every day for a couple weeks and see what happens.  If your shoulders start to feel better, you were successful and it was all a result of my help and you should probably send me a large cash donation.  If it did not help it was probably because you did not follow instructions properly but you should still send a large cash donation.  Oh and make an appointment to see an actual physician.

I discovered this week writing these descriptions is pretty challenging!  I imagine reading them has been equally challenging.  So starting next week in celebration of Thanksgiving I will GIVE you pictures and maybe even some video of all the exercises from our body part series if I can talk someone, Courtney, in to doing them for me.  

For more information or vague exercise descriptions visit www.canyonptandf.com or message me at tom@canyonptandf.com.

Two Tricks for Knee Pain Even You Can do at Home

Somewhat to my surprise the two articles on sore backs seem to be quite popular, whereas my riveting article on caffeinated underwear received little or no attention at all.   Based on my experience with the general public I assumed it was far more interested in underwear than lower backs, but, the people have spoken!

Today, therefore, I will continue my body part series.  Today's featured body part is the knee.  Before I go any farther let me clarify a couple things.  First, if you have suffered an acute knee injury, such as a falling on a slippery driveway your neighbor's child never got around to shoveling, or being hit repeatedly by a baseball bat in the side of leg you should seek immediate medical attention.  The tips I am sharing are for knee discomfort of the "CRAP!  Why is my knee sore today!?" variety.  So before you read on, please get a feel for in to which category you might fall.

One of the most common complaints I hear is "As I am getting older my knees feels 'loose' or 'unstable.'"  My first recommendation is try standing on one foot for about 30 seconds, 2 to three times, three times a week.  If that is too easy, get a foam pad, balance disk or BOSU and stand on it on one foot.  Being on one leg requires the muscles of the leg to stabilize the ankle and the knee and the more they have to do it, the more they remember how to do it.  After a few weeks, you should start to feel a difference!

Another complaint I hear is "I have this pain at the lower portion and to the outside of my knee-cap."  Often this pain is caused by a too tight IT band.  The Iliotibial (IT) band is a thick band of fibers that begins at the pelvis and runs down the outside of the thigh where it attaches at the tibia, or shin bone.  Although it is not technically a muscle, the IT band still does get tight especially for people who tend to run a lot.  My recommendation is to buy a foam roller and use it on the IT Band like the incredibly buff cartoon character in this example:

It will result in, just so you understand, a new kind of wholly unpleasant variety of pain.   BUT!  If you are consistent and do it correctly over time the pain will diminish in both your IT Band and your knee, so it is probably worth it.

Let me know how these two ideas work for you or if you have other knee related questions please comment below or e mail me at: tom@canyonptandf.com.  See you next week for our next featured body part and don't forget to visit www.canyonptandf.com to drive up web traffic and our Google rating!

Lower Back Pain, Try Stretching Your Hips, Part 2

I have not gotten any younger this week.  Although by back is doing much better, it is still giving me little reminders from time to time it is still there.  So I stretch my hips and it feels better. And then I go on with my day, and the next day I stretch my hips, and it feels better.  However, I feel like I have hit sort of a lower-back-pain plateau here.  So I decided to again be proactive and add strengthening to stretching.

In order to maintain muscle balance one must stretch the tight muscle and strengthen the opposing weak muscle.  In my case the hip flexors are the tight muscles and the Glutes are the weak muscles.  And to be honest, after looking at myself in the mirror, I can see no reasonable person will claim my glutes are too strong.  Or big, Or really even there at all.  They need some work.

Unfortunately I, like most folks, am Quadriceps dominant.  What that means is whenever I do a lower-body exercise (Squat, Lunge, Squatting Lunge, Lunging Squat, etc.) my Quads immediately take over so my Glutes can sit back and enjoy the ride.  So job one is to teach those Glutes how to work again.  I followed these simple steps and BELIEVE me, I could tell they were working:

1. Lay on your side with the bottom leg bent so a 90-degree angle is formed at the hip and at the knee.
2. Hold your top leg straight with your foot flexed and rotated in so the toes point down at about a 45-degree angle,  
3. Make medium sized circles with your leg, 15 forward and 15 backward, and then raise the leg straight up and down 15 times all without resting the leg.  
4. Repeat for the other side.

If you are doing it correctly you will immediately feel it in your Glutes.  After a few days of teaching those guys how to work, start working on squats.  With a flat back, drop into a good squat, SQUEEZE your butt, and come back up.  It is different for each person, but after a while those glutes should start firing with every squatting motion you make and HOORAY! you have achieved (better) balance.

I encourage you to give it a try yourself, and let me know how it works.  You can either comment here on the blog or e-mail me at tom@canyonptandf.com.  And because blogs with photos seem to get more attention I have, for your enjoyment, included a picture of my research assistant Matilda's favorite toy, "The Ferret!"  Enjoy!

Lower Back Pain? Try Stretching Your Hips...?

It was recently brought to my attention I am old.  Not just older, but old.  I thought that was a little unfair until I realized I was hobbling around like an old man this morning.  My back was sore!  And it's not like I was squatting 405lbs yesterday and had a good excuse,  I just woke up this morning with a sore back!  Coming on the heels of being accused of being old, I was kind of pissed.

So I stretched out my back.  Nothing.  I waited a little bit.  Stretched again.  Nothing.  That did not improve my mood.  It made no sense.  I have been doing more or less the same fitness program for the last 3 weeks: Run 3.5 miles one day, lift the next, 6 days a week.  Then it occurred to me, in addition to my workouts I spent 3 hours driving Wednesday which I almost never do.  I then spent 5 hours doing research, in a library, in a chair.  I was inactive for 8 hours.  Something I NEVER do.

My hip flexor muscles were in a contracted position for 8 hours Wednesday and as a result were tight.  This likely caused, unbeknownst to me, a greater than normal anterior pelvic tilt.  The front of my pelvis was being pulled down by the tight hip flexors, which caused the back of my pelvis to rise up.  The anterior pelvic tilt likely caused a greater than normal curve in my lower spine which put my spine is a compromising position.  So what did I do?  I ran on it Wednesday afternoon, lifted yesterday and, Tada!  Sore back today!

Once I realized the potential problem I was able to treat the problem instead of the symptom.  Problem: Tight hip flexor muscles.  Symptom: Sore back.  I started stretching my hip flexors and what I can tell you is that even if they were not causing the low back pain, they were damn tight!  Stretching them was so uncomfortable I almost forgot about my back.  And, as it turns out, it work!  After only 2 minutes of hip flexor stretching the back pain was reduced by, I would say, at least 50%.  Below are the basic and, lets say, slightly more advanced versions of what I did to stretch my hip flexors:

So the next time you are feeling low back pain, and assuming you have no history of major back injury, give this a shot!  For more common sense solutions to common problems, visit www.canyonptandf.com and see how you can FEEL SUPER today!

Get me my tattered sheet! I am Batman!

I discovered a disturbing new "fitness" trend: Fitness programs for the under 12 demographic.  Now let me be clear, I think kids should exercise.  I think they should maintain a healthy weight.  And I think creating a fitness program for them is pure insanity.

Having a structured fitness program for a five-year old is, to me, kind of like having a fitness program for my research assistant, Matilda.  For those who do not know, Matilda is s 2-year-old German Sheppard mixed with... stuff.  She is in great shape!  How, might you ask, does she do this?  I will tell you!  Although this is based purely on personal observations I have made during the last couple hours, I can comfortably clam Matilda lives to play.  She will play with anything at any time.  She plays with squirrels (admittedly I do not think the squirrels see the fun in sprinting across the yard fearing for their lives but that's their loss), she plays with bones, she plays with stuffed objects, some of which squeek, some of which do not, she plays with me, with other dogs, she plays with EVERYTHING.  The only time she does not play is when I force her to lay on her pillow while I work, waiting to play.  The closest thing she has to a structured workout is her evening walk but because I dictate the pace it probably is not much harder than waiting to play.

"What in the world does that have to do with a five-year-old," do you ask?

Again skipping the scientific research, I have determined, based on my own childhood memories, kids love to play!  When I was 5 I needed an old sheet and a stocking cap and I was Batman!  As Batman I would tear around the backyard fighting crime (Our backyard was a cesspool of crime) with a Batarang which looked remarkably like a broken Frisbee.  No one was yelling at me to do one more rep, no one was coming up with creative workouts or checking my form.  Crime did not sleep in St Paul so Batman was constantly on the move.  My mother did occasionally point out particularly heinous crimes which had to be stopped immediately,  Most of those happened during the winter months in very deep snow.

My point is with a little encouragement kids tend to find their own paths to fitness. The rest is just a gimmick.  Get them away from the televisions and tablets, send them outside and let them work their magic.  You too probably remember days from your childhood when you let your imaginations run wild and came home exhausted at the end of a long day of crimefighting.

For more information on fighting crime in my backyard, programs to kickstart YOUR fitness program or ways to avoid trending gimmicks, visit www.canyonptandf.com  And remember to always be yourself, unless you can be Batman.  Then ALWAYS be Batman.

Skip the Coffee and Eat My Shorts

I bet you have been thinking, if only there were a way to combine the convenience of wearing stylish undergarments with the power of high-octane coffee.  Well ladies, your wait is over!  I present to you, and I swear I am not making this up, caffeinated underwear!  According to an article at designtrend.com there is not one, but TWO companies selling these miracles of modern science.

Norm Thompson Outfitters is known, according to their website, as "the escape from the ordinary."  They sell a wide variety of women's apparel and accessories including "The Slimming Body Shaper."

This may look like an ordinary piece of apparel but it is most definitely the escape from ordinary.  According to the website this seemingly innocent piece of clothing is "infused with natural ingredients (caffeine and botanicals)." and is good for up to 30 washings.  The natural question is WHY??  So in an effort to inform you, the consumer, I contacted the company via live chat and asked that exact same questions.

Their response was, get ready, they DON'T KNOW.  Okay, that is not totally accurate.  They do know the "botanicals" are supposed to hydrate the wearer's body.  They also know the caffeine is supposed to "mobilize and decrease fat cells."  The all-important part, the part they do not seem to have an answer for is how this works.  I asked if perhaps the caffeine was absorbed somehow through the skin.  The answer, "Yes."  Well yes, that does clear things up.  Click here for the actual transcript.

The next question that presents itself is: How has the beer industry not jumped all over this?!  How do we not have Anheuser-Busch Briefs?  or Coors Light Longjohns?   Just THINK about the possibilities!

"Tired of paying those outrageous beer prices at the ball game?  Don't want the boss to smell alcohol on your breath?  Introducing Bud Light Boxers!  That's right, just slip them on in the morning and you get a steady stream of quality beer delivered directly to your bloodstream all day long!  No more long lines at the concession stands.  Keep a steady buzz all day long without unnecessary trips to the restroom.  Try Bud Light Boxers today!"

Look, the bottom line is, they do not work.  In fact, the manufacturers just lost a fairly pricey law-suit.   One of our "Member Bill of Rights" at Cayon Personal Training is "Even though you may not like all the answers to your questions, the answers will be honest."  In other words, there is no magic underwear which will mobilize fat.  The only way to mobilize fat is to mobilize you!

More questions you would like actual honest answers to?  Contact tom@canyonptandf.com and leave the caffeine to the coffee.

Domestic Violence in the NFL and Other Sports: Who's Fault is it Really, and What Can We Do to Prevent It?

As a newly appointed boys soccer coach, I feel a responsibility to take a day to discuss a very serious issue.  Recently it seems we cannot go a week without hearing about a high-profile athlete committing an act of domestic violence.  Although the attention is centered around the NFL, it should not be forgotten Oscar Pistorius, an Olympic Runner, has also been found guilty of killing his girlfriend.  It seems a lot of blame has been laid upon the National Football League, but as we can see, this problem transcends sports.  So who do we blame, and more importantly, how do we put a stop to it?

I think there is only one person to blame, and that is the athlete himself.  It might be in the best interest of the various sports leagues to have a domestic violence awareness program or to have very harsh penalties for domestic violence, but it is up to the individual to know right from wrong.  It is up to the athlete to know he cannot, under any circumstance, hit a woman or child.  It is called personal responsibility. Athletes need to stop blaming society, or violent tendencies encouraged by a sport or parents or whoever happens to be a convenient target.  They need to step up and say, "I am an adult with an adult job and adult responsibilities and I am going to conduct myself as such."  

Now the more important question, in my opinion, is how do we stop this trend of athletes committing acts of domestic violence?  Ultimately, unfortunately, we can probably never put a complete stop to it.  Even in the most honorable professions there are always a few bad actors who slip through.  However, I think coaches have a golden opportunity to prevent it from becoming worse and even reduce the number of incidents for future generations by holding athletes accountable for their actions at an early age and impressing upon them domestic violence is unacceptable under any circumstance.

I have seen great coaches do dumb things in the name of "giving a kid a second chance" or to"avoid ruining his career."  If a boy commits a petty crime or breaks the rules he must be punished appropriately.  If a coach makes the problem "go away" all he is telling this boy is that as long as he performs on the playing field someone will clean up his messes.  Today it is underage drinking or vandalizing a neighbor's house, tomorrow it is burglary, and so on.  As he moves up the ranks in his sport the crimes get more severe and still nothing happens outside a slap on the wrist.  Coaches must stop protecting these boys and do for them what is in their best interest long term: hold them accountable for their actions today so they hold themselves accountable tomorrow.

For many boys their coach is the only positive male role model in their lives.  And even if there are other role models, athletes are conditioned to listen to their coach's message, often times even if they conflict with messages at home.  Coaches need to use this power to send the right message.  I have already taken time during practice to explain the dangers and sheer stupidity of an athlete using drugs or alcohol.  I used one of my most powerful tools: I told the boys the quickest way to lose my respect is to use drugs or alcohol, and there is no place for someone like that on my team.  You should have sat in on that meeting.  I had their complete and undivided attention.  Might one of those kids still screw up?  Yep, he might.  But the expectation and the consequences have been made clear.  Domestic violence is next on the agenda.

I cannot ever foresee a day when we end domestic violence in the sporting world or anywhere else, for that matter.  Some people just do bad things.  But that should not keep us from trying.  Coaches need to use their influence and act early to impress upon boys there are consequences for actions and domestic violence is totally unacceptable. Today's responsible boys build tomorrow's great men. 

Tom Dueber is the owner of Canyon Personal Training and Fitness, a boys soccer coach at Longmont High School, Longmont, Colorado, and an expert at making fitness fun, which it will be again next week, we promise!