Freedom to Live! (in 9 steps)

How can I increase bodily functionality now or regain functionality lost since my youth?

Want the perfect exercise regime?

Watch a baby.  They already have their flexibility at birth.  Watch what they do next.  They focus first on core stability.  All of my four children had abs of steel within months of being born.  They were well on the way to core stability development once they figured out how to roll over.  In fact, without core strength they would not have been able to roll over.  Then they sit up.  They crawl.  They stand up.  They squat.  And walk.  It is the perfect fitness regime.  It is scaled, periodised, and (most babies) sleep often enough to ensure adequate rest, recovery, and over-compensation[1] between training sessions.   Apart from where a medical condition exists, babies infrequently suffer an over-training injury, back pain, muscular spasms, or similar.  Why?  The reasons are covered in this article but if you miss them Freedom Fitness has several Open Days coming up where you can find out the answer.  Check our advertising or social media for dates.

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A Discussion Covering All of the Components of the Perfect Exercise Regime for an Adult

Do you suffer from a bad back, muscular cramps, spasms, or general lack of ‘can-do’?

When was the last time, as an adult, you worked on your core stability?  Doesn’t it just sound like hard work?  And how would you go about it anyway?  It’s not hard work, and can be easily slotted into your daily life.

Let me put it this way.  When was the last time you slouched in a chair?  Because when you did you were destroying, not increasing, your core stability.  You were well on your way to developing back pain (just to begin with).  Not just because of a developing lack of core stability, but because of the destruction of other fitness components that also result from the way we live daily.  Thankfully, if one knows what they are doing, much of this functionality can be restored, and quite quickly in most cases.  It is virtually impossible for an adult to take on a baby’s fitness regime, as ideal as it is, because of the demands on adult life.  We can’t start over again so how do you now get to increase functionality or regain that lost since youth?

First Step - Flexibility

First you develop your flexibility.  This is a very important first step because your muscles work together to perform all of the movements possible for it.  If one muscle does not have the flexibility required to allow others involved in a movement to adequately do their job then functionality is adversely affected.  Most of the advice out there focuses on independently stretching various muscles.  Stretching properly is imperative to increasing bodily functionality for many, many reasons.  The philosophy at Freedom Fitness PLUS calls for a type of stretching we call “compound stretching”.  This involves stretching in a manner that reflects how the body needs to be used, rather than merely focusing on one muscle or muscle group in isolation to the others.  The result is an effective increase in bodily functionality, beyond that which any normal (isolation) stretching routine can deliver.  Best of all, this can easily be part of your daily routine without affecting the other things you have to get on with.

Second Step - Strength

Second, you want to look at strength.  Our compound flexibility strategy encourages the development of strength in a balanced fashion.  If additional strength beyond that is required (perhaps for a particular activity) then it will be necessary to design a specific tactic for the development of it.  Essentially strength training pitches your muscles against gravity.  There are many ways to do this, some which present a great a risk of injury, either because the programme is not graduated or because the activity is not designed to work the body the same way the body needs to function.  One example is a leg extension machine.  It builds strength in the quadriceps (the group of four muscles which make up the thigh).  The problem is that most leg extension machines place the weight on the shin.  This is not in itself painful for the shin but it is not the way the body naturally handles load either.  Usually the thigh works to handle load that comes up through the soles of the feet.  The result of using the leg extension machine as the only source of quadriceps development could well be an unnatural and unbalanced development of thigh strength that is potentially unsafe for the knees.  There are many ways to work the muscles of the body.  Strength training programmes at Freedom Fitness PLUS are designed to develop functional strength.

Third Step - Muscular Endurance

Third, you want to look at muscular endurance.  You may (quite easily) develop strength to (for instance) work the grinders to go out sailing on an America’s Cup yacht for a day.  Without developing endurance you won’t last through to lunchtime.

Fourth Step – Agility, Balance, and Stability

Agility, balance, and stability are also important.  Functionality is enhanced greatly by developing these elements of your fitness.  A large part of developing agility and balance involves core stability.  Let’s say (for instance) you want to go cycling.  You might have the strongest legs, torso, back, arms, and shoulders in the country but, unless your core has the integrity to stabilise your body in the saddle, your ability to power the bike will be comparable to the ability of an aquaplaning tyre to control the direction of a car turning a sharp corner at 150km on a wet, slippery, oil stained road.  Agility, balance, and stability is not just about core strength though.

Many joints have sensors called proprioceptors.  Their job is to tell your brain where your body is positioned in terms of the gravitational pull on your mass so that your brain can control muscle responses to keep you upright.  It is common for the proprioceptors in your ankle to be damaged when the ankle is sprained.  If you want to be able to confidently stand balanced on one leg ever again thereafter you will need to re-train the proprioceptors in your injured ankle.

Stability of joints is also of critical importance where functionality is concerned.  There are many ways to work large muscles that compromise the stability of joints and put smaller, weaker, co-ordinating, “helper” muscles at risk.  A good example is the most unstable joint of the entire body – the shoulder.  The main muscles of the front and back of the torso are responsible for the main movements the shoulder can perform but it is the tiny, co-ordinating and control giving muscles that can be easily damaged if these are not properly trained with the main muscle.  A common injury that occurs when training the chest or back is damage to the small muscles in the shoulder called the rotator cuffs.  This is a very frustrating injury because you otherwise feel well and capable but your shoulders hurt when you try to use them in a certain way.  At Freedom Fitness PLUS we employ a wide range of equipment and exercise technique to deal with these issues.

Fifth Step - Energy Systems

Energy Systems come next.  The body has three of them.  The first, the Creatine Phosphate system, supplies a short but powerful burst of energy to the muscles.  This is the fight or flight powerhouse but the energy lasts for no more than two seconds.  The second, the anaerobic system, uses glycogen, which is stored carbohydrate energy.  This system supplies fuel to the muscles for intense exercise.  A well trained athlete can sustain this type of intensity for up to two minutes.  It is the by-products of using this fuel that creates the aching in the muscles the day following a work out.  This can be reduced if you know what you are doing.  The third energy system is the aerobic system.  This is what the body is using most of the time, including in your sleep.  By increasing the metabolism the aerobic system can be burning extra fat while you sleep!  It is only good up to around 80% intensity in a well-trained athlete.  This kind of intensity can be sustained by the aerobic system for hours at a time.

No energy equals no functionality.  There are many facets to this from nutritional considerations through to your body mass index, the periodization of your fitness routine (which incorporates the appropriate rest periods for your body to recover and over-compensate – critical to the success of any fitness regime).

Sixth Step - Nutritional Considerations

Different people run best on different fuels.  Different fuels serve different purposes.  Not only do you need the correct fuel for your body and the intended activity/goal but you also need it in the optimum quantities and at the best time.  Imbalances in this area affect the way you feel all the time (not just when working out) as well as the results you will get from the fitness programme.  The resident naturopath and personal trainers at Freedom Fitness PLUS can help you get a handle on this aspect of your life.

Seventh Step - Focus

There are many different approaches to exercise, each with its own benefit.  That is why fitness solutions need to be tailored for each situation, goal, purpose, and person.

Eighth Step - Evaluation and Programming

Ever had to ask for directions to get some place?  Have you ever been lost?  Would you ask a two year old for directions?  Probably not.  Why?  Because, even if the two year old knew where you were going they probably could not tell you how to get there because they would not have a fix on your starting point.  You need to know where you are at now and where you are going, in order to chart a course to your destination.

It is the same at the Freedom Fitness PLUS whether we are talking about you developing your physical, financial, emotional, intellectual, or social fitness.  That is why everything begins with a Fitness Assessment.  Email freedomfitnessbirkenhead@gmail.com to receive the application for assessment by Freedom Fitness PLUS.

Ninth Step - Putting it all together

Recently I was working in the USA for a couple of months at my day job.  The apartment complex we stay in at Riverside in Southern California has a fitness centre.  My travel and work schedule was extremely hectic and as a result visits to the gym were well spaced.  I was eating appropriately so that, when I did make it to the gym, I could push very hard, heavy weights.  My workouts were not for very long (45 minutes was mostly all I had the time for).  Even though my work and travel schedule was tough, my body over-compensated better than it ever has and within 6 weeks of commencing training there I was Bench Pressing 280lbs.  I have never pressed so much in my life!  This serves to demonstrate two things:

1)      There are few excuses that hold water if you have a well-developed fitness regime designed to fit your life and goals

2)      The importance of all of the above mentioned fitness training considerations, including rest and recovery, when performing a fitness regime.  It is worth noting that, due to the circumstances, pure strength gain was the point of the programme.  Other goals would call for a different approach to training.

At Freedom Fitness PLUS great importance is placed upon the start point, the intended destination, charting the course, and listening to the body along the way. Our philosophy is two-fold:

1)      Positive Contribution

2)      Accountability

Some questions you can ask when you come to see us:

How can I ensure I get the “Fun Factor”?

How can I get skinny/leaner?

How can I get stronger?

How can I keep up with my kids as I get older?

How can I lose my back pain?

How can I get happy?

How can I lose my blues?

How can I eat better?

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[1] Over-compensation is the body increasing its capabilities after stress has been placed upon it.  It is the result of a well-balanced combination of of training, rest, recovery, and nutrition.