Functional

How To Live Forever: 6 Tips to Achieve Immortality.

March 28, 2018

“Come on you apes! You want to live forever?”

– Dan Daly & Some Guy from the Starship Troopers movie.

This guy i think. I don’t know.

Well, yes actually.

Specifically I want to live as well as I can for as long as I can – I have no interest in living to 110 if the last 30 years of my life are spent bed ridden, in pain and watching reruns of Cheers.

At the time of writing the five leading causes of death and disability in Australia are, in order,

Coronary heart disease
Dementia and Alzheimer’s
Cerebrovascular disease (Stroke)
Lung cancer
Injury

As scary as this is there are a number of things you can do in your day to day life that will have a direct effect on your health and increase your chance of achieving immortality.

Blame your parents.
Genetics play a huge role in determining risk factors.

My limited amount of research has thrown up a bunch of different theories regarding which factors most determine the likelihood of you developing one of the above conditions and I think it’s fair to say that the general consensus is something like 50% Genes – 40% Lifestyle – 10% Luck.

The best thing you can do here is to realise it really is all your parents’ fault and then move on and focus on things you can actually do something about.

Don’t smoke.
Duh.

Do whatever you can to reduce chronic levels of inflammation.
Chronic high levels of inflammation are directly related to the incidence of Coronary heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Strokes. On the plus side there’s plenty of things you can do to lower inflammation and the majority of them are easy to do.

First, make sure you are getting plenty of good quality sleep. Try to get at least 8 hours a night in a properly darkened room. Personally I have also invested in a quality mattress, comfortable pillows, good sheets and I do whatever I can to be comfortable in bed. You spend almost a third of your life in bed and it’s worth every cent to invest in sleep.

Next, drink plenty of water. Specifically try to drink 30ml of water per kilo of bodyweight each day. More if you are especially active and sweat a lot.

Make sure you get plenty of Vitamin D – either from the sun directly or via supplementation if you have to spend the majority of your time indoors. Fish oil is also an excellent supplement for reducing inflammation and a number of other maladies and is well worth the coin.

Finally, regular meditation has a number of health benefits and just ten minutes a day is all you need to start seeing them.

Make sure you can move well.
On average one in three adults take a fall every year and 40% of all injury related deaths are from falls so it’s important to learn how to fall safely and stand up easily.
If you practice a martial art your ukemi (breakfalls) skills are way more likely to save your life than any punch, kick or choke.

Regularly walking and sprinting will help you maintain a good quality of life as you age. Avoid jogging if you can as it places considerably more strain on your muscles, joints and heart than either walking or sprinting while providing a fraction of the benefits.

Bonus points for regularly lifting, carrying and placing objects overhead and give yourself a gold star if you keep up your ability to scale and climb.

Build and keep functional muscle mass.
Your waist circumference and the amount of belly fat you are carrying around is an excellent indicator of how likely you are to develop serious heart or health problems. Basically the bigger the number the worse it looks for you.

You may have noticed that as you age you go from being to eat whatever you want and easily maintain your pants size to putting on weight every time someone says the word “donut”.

This occurs because the older we get the more our Basal Metabolic rate (our “metabolism”) slows down. Our Basal metabolic rate is the amount of energy we use to keep our body functioning while we are at rest and it makes up 60 to 75% of our daily calorie expenditure. How many calories our Basal metabolic rate uses is determined by a number of factors but it is most directly affected by how much lean body mass we have.

Lean body mass begins to drop dramatically from age 35 onwards which is why I recommend that every weight training session after your 35th birthday has some elements of hypertrophy. It shouldn’t be anything too extreme – just 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps on one of the big lifts (squat, bench, deadlift) or on two Phasic (see below) muscle groups.

Stretch what is tight and strengthen what is weak.
In 1964 a Czechoslovakian neurologist and exercise physiologist Doctor Vladimir Janda, as a part of his efforts to help polio victims rehabilitate, began discussing and researching the muscles necessary for posture. To simplify, Janda separated muscles into two groups: Tonic, which tend to shorten with age and Phasic, which tend to weaken with age.

An easy way to hold back the ravages of time while continuing to train in a fashion that will improve athletic performance is to build a program that focuses on strengthening the Phasic muscles and stretching the Tonic muscles.

A short list of each includes:

Muscles that get tighter (Tonic)
Pectoralis Major & Pectoralis Minor (your “pecs” or chest muscles)
Biceps
Psaos (hip flexors)
Hamstrings
gastrocnemius & Soleus (calf muscles)
Upper Trapezius

Muscles that get weaker (Phasic)
Triceps
Gluteus Maximus
Rhomboids
Deltoids
Obliques
Vastus medialis & Vastus lateralis (quadriceps muscles)

What is interesting about the above is that the majority of people train the exact opposite of what is needed to diminish the effects of ageing. Go to any commercial gym and you will find a legion of “bros” benching, curling and shrugging before stretching out their triceps, glutes and quads.

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To recap –

Blame your parents & move on.
Don’t smoke.
Get plenty of sleep.
Drink more water.
Take Vitamin D and Fish Oil.
Meditate
Learn how to fall & get back up.
Build & keep some muscle.
Stretch what is tight.
Strengthen what is weak.

And finally….

Live a life worth remembering.

Gymnasticbodies: Foundation One training

November 10, 2016

Simon is one of our coaches who specialises in one-on-one and small group training. Below he shares his experience and thoughts on participating in the Gymnasticbodies method of training.

I have always enjoyed doing bodyweight training. I think we should all be able to control our bodies in space, whether it is in a basic functional way, or by taking it to the next level with acrobatics and fancy movements.

Last year I participated in the Gymnasticbodies (GB) Level 1 Seminar hosted by Coach Christopher Sommers. You can read my review here.

When you sign up for the seminar, you also receive two online programs, Foundation One (F1) and Handstand One (H1).

So with my little boy Ash being roughly two months old at the time, and needing to spend more time at home (with not a lot of sleep), I decided to make the Foundation series my main training focus.

Both programs require only a limited range of equipment, so I could do a lot of it at home, and use the equipment when I was at the gym (gymnastic rings and a pull up bar).

I started the program at week 5 to 9 for each phase, as the earlier phases were very basic. I also knew it would take me nine months to get through all of F1.

One of the good things about the GB website is that it has all the programming set out for you, so you only have to concentrate on the week that you’re up to. It also has a follow along format so you don’t get to confused with all the shorthand.

There are also a range of videos you can watch if you need to remind yourself of the form and technique for both strength and mobility.

The Foundation Series uses strength and mobility in each area of the program, and it always includes strength, followed by mobility/flexibility. So if you skip the mobility you’re technically only doing half the work.

For example: Bent Hollow Body Hold (FL/PE1 60sec) then Cat Cow (FL/PE1>iM 5reps)

Here’s where all the training leads to:

Front Lever (FL)

Straddle Planche (sPL)

Side Lever (SL)

Manna (MN)

Single Leg Squat (SLS)

Hollow Back Press (HBP)

Rope Climb (RC)

While I say that I completed all of F1, I couldn’t do most of the Single Leg Squat section due to partial meniscus tear in my left knee from BJJ, it just wasn’t stable enough for me to trust it.

As I am writing this, I just had a look at the F1 programming again and they have changed the SLS programming to what looks a lot easier or achievable for people who are limited in the use of their lower body.

Now for what I thought about the F1 program. I really enjoyed it, I guess coming from a Capoeira background means that I could pick some things up a little quicker than some other people.

The program is not a quick moving program, by that I mean it’s not a super entertaining program, but it’s not supposed to be, your focus should be on accuracy not intensity.

I like the process of the step-by-step actions that lead from simple to challenging.

Also, each exercise has a ‘Mastery’ part to it. For example: Bent Arm Chin Hang (RC/PE6) which was 5x60sec which was really hard at the start, but now it’s possible (again I checked the site and it’s only 5x30sec…)

Where my mindset differs from what they (GB) are looking for is mastery, and looking for mastery in movements isn’t why I train (but doing cool movements is nice).

When I first started Capoeira, I wanted to be good, I wanted to be able to walk into the Roda and be able to keep up with whoever I was playing, and I feel the same with BJJ.

When it comes to movement it’s always good to think about the bigger picture. Basic movements lead to more complex movements, but it’s up to you how far you take it.

For me, longevity is what keeps me motivated and focused. I want to be in this game for the long haul.

Find out more about training with Simon and his background here.

(Photo credit: Unity Gym)

The return of roadwork: Developing aerobic baseline capacity for athletes

October 11, 2016

A decade or so ago the phrase “roadwork” would have conjured up the image of a tracksuit clad athlete stoically jogging through the early morning mist and up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the inspirational tune “Gonna Fly Now’.

In recent times though, roadwork has fallen out of fashion in the athletic community; now we talk about “conditioning” and flog ourselves stupid with insane high paced workouts that leave us bathing in a puddle of our own puke and sweat.

While I think it is a good thing that we’ve come to understand that running for hours on end is detrimental to the strength, health, and performance of the majority of athletes, we’ve replaced it with something just as stupid.

The majority of “conditioning” training I see people do rarely results in any kind of improved sport performance and, in fact, usually actively interferes with it.

People forget that conditioning is specific. A boxer who is fully capable of doing ten rounds of intense sparring can be left gasping for air like a pack a day smoker after just ten minutes of wrestling practice, simply because they are not yet adapted to the specific conditioning demands of wrestling.

The best kind of sports conditioning is training or playing in the sport itself, and anything that interferes with an athlete’s ability to train or play is a hinderance. That said, it follows though that anything that can increase or enhance an athlete’s ability to train or play is beneficial.

So, aside from developing strength, if “conditioning” is out, what does that leave us with? Aerobic baseline capacity training. Roadwork 2.0 if you will.

Aerobic conditioning is not domain specific so, provided care is taken to keep the level of physical stress low, improvements made allow an athlete to train in their sport longer and more frequently.

The following three methods have each shown excellent results across a variety of sports and activities.

Barry Ross Baseline conditioning

This protocol is probably the easiest and most effective I have ever come across for developing an aerobic baseline for training. The fact that it is so simple and so undemanding is probably the main reason that almost nobody will start or stick with it.

The program was developed by Barry Ross, one of the best sprint coaches in the world, who needed to improve his athletes’ aerobic base without also further fatiguing them or impacting their ability to recover from their intense sprint training sessions.

The solution he came up with was to get his athletes to walk as fast as possible for 15 minutes three times a week with the goal of walking slightly further every week. This was to be repeated for four weeks followed by a two week break before repeating.

Tempo Running

The concept behind tempo running is that as there is little or no barrier to entry to running and only in the most extreme of circumstances do people become unable to take another step. As a result it is extremely easy for athletes (or anyone else for that matter) to run too far and run too fast damaging both sports performance and their bodies. We needed a method of limiting both the pace of the run and the quantity of running performed.

For years I called the following method “Tempo Running”, before I found out that it is essentially a low tech approach to the reasonably well known “Maffetone Running Method”.

This sounds easy, but the first session crushes egos on a regular basis. All the athlete has to do is run for 30 minutes twice a week maintaining a pace which allows them to breath only through their nose. If at any point during the run the athlete breathes through their mouth, they must walk the remaining time even once they are able to resume nose only breathing.

By restricting peoople to only breathing through their nose, it forces them to work at a pace that their body can easily handle.

I got the idea after watching Russian amateur boxers working the pads and even sparring with a mouthful of water, that they were then forced to spit out between rounds to prove they hadn’t swallowed the liquid.

Steady state after high intensity training

While none of these methods are onerous, this approach is the most easily integrated into an existing routine. All that is required is ten minutes of easy, steady state aerobics immediately after an intense sport training session, six days a week.

It is important to take note that in order for this protocol to be effective, it must be performed directly after a high intensity sports training session – not as a separate session, and not after something slower paced.

Interestingly, while it is probably the least effective of these three options for developing your aerobic baseline capacity (it’s still pretty good though) this is the only one that is even remotely likely to result in additional fat loss. While aerobic training is not particularly good at mobilising fat from adipose tissue stores, it is reasonably effective at making use of it once it enters the bloodstream. By performing some steady state aerobic training after high intensity training, which is amazing at mobilising fat from adipose tissue, you are essentially giving yourself some insurance that the fat that was mobilised gets burned.

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You might have noticed that none of the above training protocols are particularly exciting or sexy. That’s the thing about training in an effective, productive manner – sometimes it’s boring.

And that’s what makes this training genuinely hard for people to do.

The long runs and the puke inducing work outs feel hard but almost everybody will do them because they also feel exciting but it’s a willingness to do the rote work, the punch the clock style training sessions, that is the mark of a genuine athlete.

Photograph by Malcolm Murdoch

Keeping it complex

August 24, 2015

Simon is a qualified personal trainer with more than 12 years’ experience in coaching Canberrans to reach their full physical potential. During this time, he has honed his skills in martial arts, human movement, and strength and conditioning – his main passions in life! Here Simon talks about the importance of a varied training regime.

When it comes to training regimes I’m a big fan of keeping it complex. Sound counter-intuitive? Let me explain.

I believe we need to expose ourselves to different ways of moving in order to get the most out of our bodies. I’m talking about constantly challenging yourself to learn new things – a work out for your brain as well as your body.

This is one of the reasons why I fell in love with the art of Capoeira, more than a decade ago. There’s so many different aspects to explore: musical instruments, singing in Portuguese, learning about Brazilian culture, acrobatics, and martial arts.

While these elements all seem pretty different, even unrelated, one actually can’t exist without the other. I know that understanding the musical side of Capoeira makes you way better at moving around in the roda (the circle that you play Capoeira in), for example.

CrossFit and functional training methods are good examples too, because they introduce different movement patterns and lots of cool toys to play around with.

But sometimes we get a little too comfortable with our training, so how do you change this up?

Well, in the case of CrossFitters and people who are into functional training, you can dedicate some of your training time to explore a particular area in depth, such as Olympic lifting, Gymnastics or Power lifting. These are all great tools!

Once you’ve taken the time to gain competence in your chosen area (and this will take some time), you know it’s time to move on to your next challenge.

One of the things I love most about my job is seeing people grow to better understand what their bodies are capable of, and how they can leverage this in their sport, and in life.

I encourage my clients and students to try new things that get them moving, challenge their thinking, and make them really happy.

Whether it’s dancing, skating, surfing, Capoeira, hand-balancing, riding a horse or golf – I challenge you to delve into the detail of your chosen sport or training discipline, and see what physical and mental benefits follow.

To find out more about training with Simon, visit his website: www.simonlecoaching.com or flick him an email at simonlecoach@gmail.com