Q and A March 15th, 2013

 

Challenge workouts

Question: I have knee pain, is it okay to squat?

Answer: My friend and ‘go to’ rehab guy is Rick Kaselj. I’m going to quote some of the studies that he’s pointed me to in order to answer this one. In a nutshell, here’s what he’d say if you have knee pain when squatting:

      • >Parallel squat (thigh parallel to floor) is recommended over a deep squat as the injury potential to the menisci and cruciate and collateral ligaments increase with a deep squat.

 

      • >Quadriceps, hamstring and gastrocnemius activity increases with knee flexion during the squat.

 

      • >Rick’s recommendation for rehabilitation of the knee is movements that are performed from 0 degrees to 50 degrees of knee flexion. Which is classified as functional range of the knee.

 

      • >The squat is safe for ligament injuries but when moving into a deep squat there is great risk of injury to the inside of the joint and the ligaments. This needs to be considered when the knee is injured and in a knee rehabilitation situation. The cost/benefit needs to be considered for a healthy knee.

 

      • >If you have patellofemoral or anterior knee pain, you can decrease the stress on the joint by decreasing the squat depth and reducing or eliminating load.

 

    • >There is greater stress on the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) during non-weight bearing exercises (seated knee extension without resistance) versus weight bearing exercises (squatting). The ACL is loaded more during 10 to 50 degrees of knee flexion compared to 50 to 100 degrees. Squatting with knees past the toes and heels off the ground leads to an increase in load on the ACL. Therefore should be avoided if you have an injury involving the ACL.

Stay tuned for more great stuff from Rick and knee pain next week. He’s been working on a program to help those of use that suffer from knee pain.

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I may have ruffled some Crossfitter’s feathers this week by mentioning that I’m not a big fan. I’ve been telling you about a program called ‘The Unbreakable Bad Ass Blueprint‘. I wanted to let Travis Stoetzel clarify the difference between his program and Crossfit.

Question: What’s functional training?

Answer: Functional training uses and promotes nothing but functional movements such as gymnastics (bodyweight training), Olympic Lifting, Power Lifting, Strongman, Kettlebells.  This type of training beats your typical bodybuilding style, machine based training any day (as long as it’s used correctly). It gets you lean, strong, and highly conditioned.

Question: What’s the difference between the he Unbreakable Bad Ass Blueprint and Crossfit?

Answer: I’d like to think that my program takes all that’s great about Crossfit and eliminates the downfalls and there are several downfalls to Crossfit training:

-Lack of Progression –   The bottom line is, if you don’t follow a set of solid progressions, you’ll more then likely get hurt.

-Crossfit is competition based – NOT everyone is a competitor. Folks need to train to their best ability, but understand what their limits are. My program challenges people to compete with themselves to make improvements.

-Lack of Programming – No progression, no programming = no REAL plan.  When you don’t have a plan, you plan to FAIL.  When it comes down to training and getting real results, you’ve got to follow some sort of program to avoid injury.

If you want to be a Bad Ass without the injuries, check out Travis’ program to see if it’s right for you.

I’ve been puffing Travis up all week, but only because he’s an original bad ass and his training is legitimate. You’re gonna love (to hate) it.

Travis Stoetzel

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My fitness boot camp did our annual fundraiser this week called the ‘Lil Black Dress Workout’. Everyone, including the dudes, came to workout in a black dress.

This year our charity was my local church who’s sending a team of youth to Mexico to build homes for impoverished families. I got several other Fit Body Boot Camps across the world to join in the fun. We all did the same workout, got sweaty and made a difference in the world. I think it’s pretty cool when that can happen.

If you want to make a donation, I’d be grateful, here’s the giving page. This page is one that my daughter set up, my son is also going on the trip. All funds go towards getting the team to Mexico, building supplies and any extra goes to the community. I chose this charity because the experience has had a profound effect on my children as they see how a week of their time can literally change lives.

Calgary NW Fit Body Boot Camp

 

Good times at boot camp 😉

PS Sometimes the link to that giving page expires and I haven’t quite got it figured. If you want to give and don’t know how, just let me know and I’ll send you a fresh link.