03.14.07
Posted in Drugs at 11:06 am by Fit Guy
According to this article, Doctors treating people for chronic pain should avoid using all medications — at least at first — the American Heart Association. Patients should be treated first with nonmedicinal measures such as physical therapy, hot or cold packs, exercise, weight loss, and orthotics before doctors even consider medication, said the AHA scientific statement published in the journal Circulation.
How about improving muscle balance and total body posture as a way out of pain…nah…makes too much sense. 
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Posted in Low Back Pain, Rolfing at 1:19 am by Fit Guy
A few years ago I took a slightly different direction to LBP; essentially, look at what “works” via total body approaches. For example, I’ve personally seen Rolfing work wonders for people and change their structural alignment and alleviate back pain. It’s by no means a cure for back pain, but it can work by reconnecting the body from head to toe and breaking up adhesions to allow for proper movement to be expressed. My point being the body has a homeostatic base, and is FAR more intelligent than anything we can devise, and it will largely reintroduce proper muscle timing if the obstacles are removed. The key is finding the obstacles and using your preferred method to facilitate change and then it’s time to get out of the way. Of course, there are variables and each person is different, but the general paradigm stays the same….
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03.12.07
Posted in Evolution at 4:40 pm by Fit Guy
An excerpt from Newsweek that was brought to my attention by Lou Schuler
“New research also shows that “progress” and “human evolution” are only occasional partners. More than once in human prehistory, evolution created a modern trait such as a face without jutting, apelike brows and jaws, only to let it go extinct, before trying again a few million years later. Our species’ travels through time proceeded in fits and starts, with long periods when “nothing much happened,” punctuated by bursts of dizzying change, says paleontologist Ian Tattersall, co-curator of the American Museum’s new hall.” Makes you wonder if we’re in a current “lapse of progress” and repetitive/cumulative motions are not solely responsible for all the chronic aches and pains…
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03.10.07
Posted in Core Training System at 7:49 pm by Fit Guy
The why I see it there’s a lot about motor control we don’t know, but that alignment in gravity, and the ability to deal with ground reactive forces, is important for all of us. The P.A.S.T. Balance Boards simply reduce the user’s base of support and stimulate natural reflexes that have been “dumbed down” or in other words teach a person to find their “line” in gravity. The human body seeks equilibrium, and overall health, and once you find your “line” it all begins to integrate…
P.S. I was on CH 4 last night and had a great time. A big thanks to Ed Green, and his awesome production team, for having me on air. I still think the “teaser” should have been to have better sex!
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03.09.07
Posted in General Info, Posture at 10:55 pm by Fit Guy
I’m often asked how to overcome chronic pain; well, for me the first notion thrown into my mental wastebasket was that we are “ghosts in the machine,” wherein the mind and body are two different entities. After years of buying into this culturally created phenomenon, I began to believe human beings are a unified whole that can’t be so readily separated. It’s often said that an infant’s ego and body are one in the same, as they haven’t yet accumulated mental associations and even conventional anatomy books recognize the human skin as the outer layer of the nervous system (i.e., your brain). It’s time we grasp the idea that our posture is also reflection of how we think and feel and that any true form of health can’t come at the expense of the mind or the body, but instead needs to embrace the unity of the two intertwined entities. Yup, this is the first step to overcoming chronic pain….
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03.06.07
Posted in Core Strength, General Info, Neuromuscular, Posture at 7:15 pm by Fit Guy
It seems everyone is using Swiss Balls for rehab and sports performance, but why? The balls activate the “core” and also increase the spinal loading (i.e., not good for rehab). The ball activate the “core” while you are not standing in gravity and only partially dealing with ground reactive forces (i.e., not good for sports performance). The balls are good for a change of pace to stimulate the nervous system and a different workout, but not as the primary workout.
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03.02.07
Posted in General Info, Newbies at 5:43 am by Fit Guy
It’s a simple word with a magnificence amount of meaning, but almost no one ever uses it. Most people don’t ask why BEFORE they do something and carry out their lives by rote; for instance, in the gym it seems too many people are stretching, doing “core” work on Swiss balls, walking backwards treadmills, isolating areas of their bodies to overcome injuries like shin splints or elbow tendonitis, solely using exercise bands and not weights or vice versa, sitting on machines instead of doing bodyweight exercise, etc. Almost none of them are asking themselves WHY they are doing any of it, but yet have a religious like fervor around their routines. So, I’m going to spend the next few posts asking why and see what I come up with and maybe learn something along the way.
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