The Plasticity of Plasticity-What?

Because one of our highest core values is to "Continually Learn and Improve," Andy just returned from another trip to Phoenix, attending Z Health's 9S: Structure course.  The easiest way to describe this course is that we spent 4 intensive days (and months leading up to it) studying functional neurology, and what we need to do to the body in order to help the brain function optimally, and vice versa.

This was by far the most brain-intensive course to date, and incredible new insights were gained on how truly wonderfully we're made, and a better insight as to what really is possible in healing, rehabilitation, and performance if we give the brain the right stimulus, in the right amount, to allow it to happen.  Our movement quality, behavior, and activities are a physical reflection of the brain's status and function.  We can learn to move better to help the brain become healthier and more functional, and we can also target and activate certain areas of the brain to move and feel better.  They go hand in hand!

We talk a lot here about neuroplasticity (now, officially being renamed "neural plasticity").  Neural plasticity means that every time we introduce a stimulus to the body, the brain is learning, and physically changing and creating a pathway to adapt to what just occurred (a vision drill, strength exercise, injury, etc).  

We learned about a totally new concept that is incredibly exciting and hopeful:  Metaplasticity.  Metaplasticity is described as "the plasticity of plasticity."  What this means is, because the brain continually adapts as it's givennew stimulus, it actually becomes better at being plastic.  

So what does this mean for us?  It means, the more we practice plasticity (training our body/brain with novel stimulus) the more injury/trauma resistant we become, and the faster we can recover from the event because our brain is so good at changing.   

Continuing to challenge the brain intellectually as well as physically sets us up to be more resilient, speeds up recovery, and allows for life long health and athleticism.  

 

How To Make Your Thanksgiving Dinner Work For You, Not Against You....

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  It's full of family, friends, reflecting and gratitude, and of course delicious food.  A lot of us enjoy it, but there's also that lingering feeling of "guilt" in the background that we eventually shut off, go crazy, and then let it creep back in full force later on.  

So... Here are a few easy and enjoyable ways to make the most out of your Thanksgiving day.

1.  No Guilt!  It's a holiday, and a special day.  The number one rule of food is it must be enjoyable.  Food should support you and make you feel good.  Good food also will create the appropriate hormones to boost your metabolism and decrease your stress.  Stress hormones will actually slow down your digestion and metabolism.  If you feel guilty about eating, you're increasing your stress hormones and slowing down your digestion and metabolism, confounding the problem.  

Shift your mindset:  It's a day of celebration, relaxation, and enjoyment.  No one meal has ever "ruined" a person's health.  Enjoy the meal and the day, knowing you'll take the necessary steps the next day to get back on track.  You've worked hard to improve your health both in the gym and with your diet, and you'll continue.  Enjoy the rewards of your hard work!

2.  Eat Dessert!  That's right, your trainers are telling you to eat dessert.  There's a very specific biochemical reaction that happens when we consume a combination of healthy protein, some fat, and a delicious dessert.  This reaction boosts metabolic hormones and will actually help you avoid the post dinner "food coma," decrease the body's stress response, and will also give you the satisfaction of a complete and tasty dinner.  (minimizing the "unhealthy fats" will also make this work better- cook with olive oil, butter, or coconut oil instead of vegetable and/or seed oils)

Shift your mindset:  Most of us, in an effort to minimize our dessert craving and consumption, over-indulge in the main course and (more "dangerous") all of the fixings.  Though at the end of the meal, we're craving something sweet, give in anyways, and stuff ourselves to the brim to squeeze that tasty dessert in that we're craving.  

The brain produces cravings for a reason (it's not just because you're "the one person who isn't disciplined enough to say no").  Plan on eating dessert to make your meal work for you, and actually save room for it!  Fewer and smaller portions of sides is a great way to save space and avoid some of the more unhealthy fats and grains that slow the digestive and metabolic process down.   

Our number one rule is to enjoy yourself!  A great quote you'll probably hear often around our gym is "Life is too short to do things that we hate or make us miserable just so we can live longer." Thanksgiving is a day of relaxation, celebration, and reflection on how fortunate we are.  We're so thankful for this special Fitness Evolved community that we get to be a part of.  We're honored that you've allowed us to be a part of your journey and incredibly blessed and thankful that you allow us to do what we love as our "job."

Happy Thanksgiving!  

Black Friday Burn Off!

It's that time of year again!  Thanksgiving is just around the corner...  Just over 2 weeks away, in fact!  Along with the Thanksgiving holiday comes the not as fun (now) "holiday" Black Friday.  

Before you head out on your shopping expeditions, join us for a fun event that's not only good for you, but a benefit to others, as well!

This year, Fitness Evolved is proud to partner with One Warm Coat  to collect coats, scarves, hats, gloves, and sweaters for those in need as the weather changes.  We will be delivering the donations to Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS) in Berkeley.  BOSS is a great organization whose mission is to help homeless, poor, and disabled people achieve health and self-sufficiency as well as fight against the root causes of homelessness.   For more information on BOSS, click here.

Join us on Friday, November 23rd at 10:30 AM for a great Metabolic Circuit Training Group Class to get rid of the post Thanksgiving malaise and help us kick off our coat drive!  

Admission to the class is free with a donation!

 Let's do some "Turkey Burning" and help out members of our community in need!

  

 ** If you're unable to make it to the class but would still like to donate, not to worry!  This is just the kick off.  The drive will start on the 23rd and go until Friday, December 28th.**

Yes, Women CAN do Pull-Ups!

It was indeed a slap in the face. Last week, the New York times published an article called "Why Women Can't Do Pull Ups". Before I even read the article, I was shocked, upset, and for a moment felt like I was being sent in a time machine to the 50's where women were supposed to stay at home and cook, clean, and wear pretty skirts. Are you kidding me with this title? As a female, lover of fitness and an avid athlete, I feel the exact opposite of this title should have been used. How about: "How to Master the Pull-Up" or "Why are Pull-Ups So Darn Challenging?"Once we throw the word "women" in there, we are simply doing what society and the fitness world of years past has done before: reminding women of what they CAN'T do, versus encouraging them to go out there and just do it!

If you read the article, it states that a study was done at the

University of Dayton where 17 " normal-weight" women (which isn't specified in the article--what is normal weight by the way?) who couldn't do a single overhand pull-up were chosen to participate. They were taken through a strengthening program 3 days per week for 3 months. Strengthening exercises included the lat-pulldown and bicep curls, which are muscles needed when performing a pull-up. The women also did a modified (I repeat, modified) version of a pull-up where they would pull themselves up and over an inclined bar in hopes of strengthening the muscles required to do the real thing. At the end of the study, only 4 of the 17 women could do one pull-up. Here's the problem: the women never actually practiced hanging from an actual pull-up bar. One thing we practice at Fitness Evolved is the SAID principle: Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. This means that your body always adapts to exactly what it does. If you practice something regularly, you will get better at it due to your body's ability to adapt, and eventually, it will get easier for you. At that point, a new stimulus is needed, or the exercise needs to be progressed in order for a new adaptation to occur. In the case of the pull-ups, we would suggest the training program have the women hanging from an actual pull-up bar, and also trying some "negative" pull-ups. If you've never done a negative pull-up, come in and give it a try sometime! We'd have you step on a platform, jump up and pull your head over the pull-up bar, then SLOWLY lower your body weight down towards the floor. This particular movement helps strengthen the "eccentric" contraction of the muscles involved, which in simpler terms means the muscles you're working are lengthening while they're under load. It's a great way to gain size and strength in your muscles. 

The bottom line is pull-ups are challenging. Both men and women struggle with them, but here's the good news: They can be improved with the proper training, as well as the right mindset! After reading the NYTimes article, Carmela and Mary used it as motivation to knock out a few pull-ups of their own, and Kay Hutchison did her first chin up ever. 

Carmela Pull Ups

 

 

Kay Hutchison Doing Her FIRST Chin Up... and a Half for good measure!

Mary Chin Ups w/ an 8 kg Kettlebell on her Foot!

 

Finally, to all of our female members, don't ever let anyone tell you an exercise is impossible because you're a woman. You can absolutely do anything you set your mind to and you're certainly not losing anything by trying. I wonder if the writer of the NYTimes article ever even tried one....Hmmmm....

"Can" The Diet Soda?

This is an exciting time of new research and information in nutrition neurology coming out, seemingly, daily.  And it's even more exciting for us when new research involving both come out!  This newsletter from Lumosity cites a new study from UC San Diego showing that the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas may be playing havoc on our brain chemistry as well as our metabolism.  Here's the article:

Diet Sodas: Changing Your Brain And Your Waistline      Diet sodas may not be helping you lose weight-in fact, these and other artificially sweetened foods may sabotage your diet by confusing and rewiring your brain's reward centers. This study from the journal Physiology & Behavior is yet another example of how lifestyle choices can alter your brain-negatively or positively.    Scanning diet soda drinkers' brains The University of San Diego study followed 24 young adults: half the group drank at least one serving of diet soda every day, while the other half avoided the artificially sweetened drinks. These adults were then hooked up to brain scanning equipmentwhile scientists fed them water alternately flavored by natural and artificial sweeteners-then the researchers sat back and watched what unfolded in the brain. The results, according to University of California San Diego researchers Green and Murphy, were pronounced: "[Diet soda drinkers] who consumed a greater number of diet sodas had reduced caudate head activation. These findings may provide some insight into the link between diet soda consumption and obesity."    Artificial sweeteners confuse reward A little bit of background: the caudate head is a part of the brain involved in signaling reward and controlling food intake-and its decreased activity in the brains of diet soda drinkers has substantial implications. Researchers posit that consumption of diet soda had confused the reward loops normally processed by the caudate head: because sweetness was no longer a reliable indicator of incoming calories, the brain had trained itself to respond less in the face of sweet flavors. Unreliable sweet tastes threw off normal predictions about calories and energy in the changed brains of diet soda drinkers-making it more likely that these people would consume additional calories later in the day. Small choices can affect your brain This newest study is pretty preliminary; it's difficult to say how drastically diet sodas can affect bigger questions of lifestyle and health based on such short-term brain activation patterns. Still, this recent investigation provides an interesting reflection on how choices and actions made in everyday life can powerfully influence the way your brain is wired-in other words, the concept of neuroplasticity.

 

Based on the results of this study and their discovered brain reactions, it looks like all artificial or non-caloric sweeteners may not be ideal.  The brain, and our metabolism, actually respond to sucrose (white sugar) and fructose (from fruits) better than the substitutes..... in the right amounts, of course!

If you'd like to read more about this, here's an interesting article from Science News: click here 

Click here for the abstract of the study.

A Quick, Easy, and Tasty Dinner Idea

One of the biggest challenges is finding the time to cook a healthy, flavorful meal when we have such busy lives.  Here's a quick and easy recipe for fish that's full of flavor, protein, and good healthy fats.  

Baked White Fish

Ingredients:

4-6 oz. fillet of White fish (Cod and Dover Sole workgreat!)

Salt

Pepper

1tsp. Butter per fillet

1 small clove garlic (to taste)

Parchment paper cut into approx. 15x15 inch squares (1 per fillet)

Stapler

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 deg.  Place each fish fillet on top of a parchment paper square.  Salt and Pepper to taste.  Add a tsp. of butter on top of the fish.  Garlic is optional- either mince into small pieces and sprinkle on fish or cut into bigger slices and place along side the fish in the paper.  The melted butter and juices will simmer the garlic and add a more mild garlic flavor.  

Fold the edges of the paper together, creating a "pouch"around the fillet. Fold the edges down and staple together to keep the juices and flavors in while cooking.

Place on a baking sheet, and in the oven for 15-17 minutes. 

Remove and place the pouches on the plate.  Cut a slit to open, add any other garnish you'd like (like some diced tomatoes pictured above), squeeze some lemon juice over the fish if desired, and enjoy!  

A More Evolved Fitness Program..

This a great topic that has come up a few times this past week, and comes up often.  "How do I know what and how much I should do today- especially when I've missed the past week of workouts due to work/life/stress?"  

Our first inclination is "I'm behind and need to catch up.  I've missed the past week/month/year and need to make it up."  This typically evolves into some sort of "fitness seizure" that usually leaves us in worse condition than before.  This may or may not work, but it's usually a guess and hoping we've guessed right.

While the mainstream, traditional fitness culture is currently touting the "Go Hard or Go Home" and "No Pain No Gain" approach to fitness, we propose a more intelligent,Evolved, approach that will minimize the guessing and allow for sustainability and long term health.  (You can only beat yourself up so many times before your brain says "enough!" and you quit exercising all together!)

Knowing what we now know about the brain, it's aversion to stress/threat, and how it improves or inhibits performance accordingly; we can use one simple tool to get a relative idea of how much we should be exercising and how hard we should go that day.  Remember, the key to life-long health and athleticism is to get better each day, not just do some stuff that we're "supposed to do" and hope it helps.  

A simple tool that anyone can use to gauge how their workout should go is one we use every day in our gym:  A range of motion assessment (toe-touch, rotation, shoulder raise) and/or peripheral vision.  Because our brain is in charge of our performance and, as mentioned above, will improve or inhibit our performance based on the amount ofperceived stress/threat  the body is under- physically, mentally, chemically, etc.  

If your starting range of motion is less than usual, and it takes a longer than usual amount of time in your warm up to get to your normal, your brain's most likely close to its threshold of stress for today and putting on the brakes.  Mobility and some light activity are most likely what will give you the best result that day.

If you warm up quickly and feel good, go for it!  Continue to re-assess your range of motion after each set.  As long as you continue to improve (not just stay the same!) you can continue your workout for as long as you have time and energy for.  

It's not a matter of toughness, discipline, or any other catch phrase out there!  You just may need to go hard today because you haven't for a while.  But, if you don't assess it first to have a better idea, you may end up over-stressing your body and increase your risk of injury, sickness, excessive fatigue, or even more pain.  

Evolve your thinking and take a more educated and practical approach to your fitness.  Your brain will always adapt to as much stress as it can handle, but not more.  Take this approach with you to each session and watch your results soar!  

A More Complete Fitness Program...

There are many approaches to fitness, and many components to a complete fitness program.  At Fitness Evolved, we're constantly working to improve our programming and offering our members the best and most complete fitness program possible.  

Those with a Customized Membership have seen the benefits of focusing on corrective work, visual skills and coordination, and strength and hypertrophy in their individual sessions, complemented by fast-paced metabolic conditioning classes.  The two work hand-in-hand to make a more complete program.  

Through some experimentation and brain-storming (the hamster wheels were turning!) we've come up with a way to evolve our classes to bring more of these benefits to all of our members- Custom and Basic alike.  

Starting in October, we'll be adding new "Total Body" classes to the mix.  These classes will be designed to take you through a total body training session.  They'll include a neural warm up, visual and vestibular skill training, corrective and core training, elastic/athletic training, strength and hypertrophy, and a metabolic finisher.  These workouts will look very similar to the workouts our Custom Membership members go through, and will be progressed similarly.  This will allow our Basic members to get a more complete fitness program, and continue to give you the best tools available to help you evolve into the body you want. 

Class times will remain the same (for now) but the types of classes will change.  

"The Eyes Have It!"

As you've been learning from our repeated coaching , better movement is key to reach any goal you have- reduce pain, get stronger, increase your recrea

tional activities, lose weight, etc., etc.  We've

learned that our Proprioceptive System, or the brain's 3D map of our body's joints, muscles and bones, is constantly sending information to the brain to make that map more clear to allow you to adapt to whatever activity you're participating in at the moment.  Millions of signals (actually 19 million signals per second!) are being received and processed by the brain from this amazing system which makes up just one third of our movement system.  What are the other 2?  The visual system and the vestibular system.  All of these systems work together to allow you to get from point A to point B safely without any sort of "accidental catastrophe," such as tripping on the curb, being blindsided by a fell

ow pedestrian, or running into a wall (admit it- at least one or all of these have happened to you at least once! :) )  

What's the most important, or most dominant system that controls our movement?  You guessed it- the eyes!  Our visual system is taking in 9 billion pieces of information (for you "techy" people- that w

ould be equivalent to 9 terabytes) per second!  If our eyes aren't functioning well or any of our skills are "off," we get what's called a "sensory mismatch,"  where the 3 systems aren't syncing together to give our brain accurate information as to where we are or what's happening around us.  This causes extra tension, or "startle," throughout the body, and limits how we move.

The key word in the previous sentences:  skills!  Vision is a skill, and skills can always be learned and improved!  Your eyes have muscles that need to be trained, as well.  What happens if you don't use a muscle?  It stops functioning like it should.
So how do we improve our vision?  There are many different drills and skills that can be learned and improved which will improve your overall vision.

Here's the exercise of the week:  Pencil Push Ups!

Procedure:  Always start with an easy movement assessment.  This can any movement.  The easiest assessments are either a forward bend to a toe touch, or an arm raise overhead, maintaining a "locked" elbow for accuracy.  Do a few movements to get an idea of how far you move, how easily, and how quickly you get there.  Also, assess your peripheral vision:  take both finger tips away from you, out to the side, as far as you can, but keeping them in your peripheral awareness.  In other words, your eyes should be 

looking straight ahead, but you should be able to see both finger tips.  Note how far to the side each finger tip is.

The Drill:  

Hold a pencil or pen with the tip about 6-10 inches away from your nose.  Slowly move the pen towards the tip of your nose, following it in with your eyes.  Stop the pen when you see 2 tips, and note how close it is to your nose.  Repeat this drill, but make an effort to bring both eyes together as the pen comes closer (like you're trying to go "cross-eyed").   Follow the pen in until you see 2 tips again, then push it back out to the starting point, following it with your eyes.  Repeat for 5 reps.  Blink your eyes a little, take a short walk, and then re-assess your movement and your peripheral awareness.  You should have just improved your movement, and your peripheral vision should be greatly improved!  

This drill takes about 30 seconds to complete.  Who doesn't have 30 seconds a day to see better and move better?!  Give it a try, and be consistent for a week.  You'll be surprised at the results- in how you see, move and feel!

What's More Important- the Workout or the Results?

True or False: You have to workout hard in order to get in shape and be healthy.

 Answer: False! Just the opposite is true. Most people need to get in shape and be healthier before they can workout hard!

 Exercise is a very important part of getting healthy and staying in shape, but like a drug, it has to be the right type in the right amount at the right time. Like any food, drug, or supplement, exercise creates a physical and chemical response in the body- for better and/or worse.

 All too often, in our busy lives, we think "I need to get my workout in," and hit the gym. We don't consider many factors that may make that workout beneficial or harmful. Exercise is a stress to your body. It's interpreted as stress by the brain. We don't get improvements in health from the exercise itself. The brain recognizes the stress and adapts by making the body stronger and more resilient in order to handle that stress better the next time it is placed on the body. That's how we get stronger, bigger muscles, more aerobic capacity, etc- the brain recognizes the "threat" and makes us better and more prepared for the next time.

 There are multiple stresses in life- pain, work, food (or lack of), poor sleep, air quality, etc. Our brain will only adapt to so much stress at one time before it starts to go in the opposite direction and shut down to protect what's most vital. So the amount, intensity, and type of "workout" you have today depends on all of these factors and more.

  3 Easy Strategies for Maximizing Your Workouts.

1. Fuel.  Your body needs fuel in order to do what you're trying to do.  If it's not fueled, it will create its own by using the stress hormones Cortisol and Adrenaline to mine your own protein (muscles!) and turn them into fuel.  Thus, defeating the purpose of your workout! (And, the leftover fuel from that process gets turned into and stored as belly fat.  Double whammy!)   Make sure you've eaten a meal at least within 2-3 hours of your session.  A snack consisting of some sugar and protein (fruit and cheese/milk  is great!) will fuel you the best.

2. Exercise in Pain, there will be No Gain!  The only thing you gain by working out in pain is more pain.  Unless you have an immediate athletic goal (competition, deadline, etc.) you should never push through pain. If you're interested in lifelong health and athleticism, continuing to move and load painful movements will only slow that process down. You'll get a much better long term result by improving the quality of your movement and decreasing your pain levels than pushing through the pain in order to get the workout in.

3.  Sleep!  This is often one of the least considered factors in training.  Sleep is actually when your brain does most of it's learning, "downloading," and adapting from the day's activities.  Giving it enough time to do that well is important, along with giving your body the quiet time it needs to restore.  7-9 hours of sleep on average is required for best result (obviously this varies from person to person). 

Bonus: 3 Tips for Better Sleep:  

1.  Keep the lights on until it's time to sleep.  Darkness increases adrenaline and other stress hormones, making it difficult to fall into a deep sleep, and often waking at 1:00-2:00 AM.

2.  Make the room as dark as possible when it's time to sleep and remove any unnecessary electronics from your room.  Any light (even from electronics) will alter the quality of your sleep. Make sure there are minimal electronic devices in your room,and cover or turn off as many of those with lights as possible.

3.  Late night snack:  Ice Cream!  Yes, your trainers recommending ice cream as a snack to help you sleep.  1 Serving of quality ice cream (Haagen Daaz Five and Strauss Dairy have the "approved" ingredients for health and the desired effects) 1-2 hours before bed will give your body the right mix of sugar, fat, and protein to maintain a sufficient amount of fuel through the night to ward off adrenaline, cortisol, seratonin, and estrogen- the stress hormones that amp up your energy and wake you up during the night.  

**Note:  these calories still count towards your daily calorie intake, so you may need to make a trade somewhere in the day if you want to eat ice cream at night!**

Do we want you to workout and workout hard?  Absolutely!  But, our larger priority is your results.  If working out hard is going to hinder your results, we're not going to do it that day.  At Fitness Evolved, we're not about writing great workouts (which we think we're pretty good at :)), we're about giving you the tools to optimize your body every day in order to continually improve your health, fitness, and quality of life.  Treat your exercise and workout like a "health supplement"- you need it in the right dose, the right intensity, at the right time for the best results.

 

Egg Yolks Almost as Bad as Smoking? Really?!

A new study from Canada was released recently suggesting that increased egg yolk intake is almost comparable to smoking (in terms of atherosclerosis/plaque build up in arteries, etc.) Unfortunately, more and more of this type of "study" is being released in the media as definitive information- studies that show correlation of a few isolated factors and make a suggestion. In this particular study, researchers used subjects who were attending "Canadian vascular prevention clinics." They measured the amounts of "plaque" build up, and had patients answer questionnaires. The study did find that similar amounts of plaque build up were found in patients who smoked and patients who ate more than 3 egg yolks/week. However, a multitude of other important factors were left out, such as alcohol intake and exercise: "This was not done for alcohol consumption, licorice intake or exercise, because the textual responses were mainly not quantifiable..." Common knowledge now tells us that these two factors alone are large determining factors when looking at risk for Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), along with all other dietary intake or other lifestyle habits. We believe that eggs are one of the healthiest foods you can eat- full of protein, protective cholesterol, and other cell-building nutrients. More and more, in the age of social media and "fast news," information will be posted and distributed in an attempt to make the big splash and post the big headlines. It's up to us to fully investigate before believing a headline or an article. What to look for in a reliable research article: - A large sample size - They weigh multiple variables equally (Nothing in the human body has a single-factor cause. We're organisms made of multiple systems functioning simultaneously and interdependently.) - If their findings end in "may", "can", or "might", you can take their advice pretty lightly.

 If you'd like more info on the benefit of eggs, this is a short, well done article with lots of helpful links. Click Here

 Ray Peat, Ph.D has written a very good (though dense) article on the value of Cholesterol and it's misconceptions. Click Here

  Click Here for the actual research article.

Is it the End of Stretching?

If you've been to Fitness Evolved for more than one session or class, you've likely noticed that we don't do a lot of stretching. Is there a reason for this? Is stretching bad? Are we just lazy? Well, there's an answer for each of those questions that requires a little more explanation than just the one word answer you'd expect. Is there a reason for not stretching? Yes, and actually, there are many. Everything that happens in the human body is happening for a reason. Very rarely (though it does happen sometimes) is there a muscle that is actually physically too short and needs to be "lengthened." If a muscle is "shortened" or tight, we've found that it's most often a mapping or "threat" issue in the brain. Muscles' #1 job is to control/protect joints. If our joints are compromised, our mobility and therefore our "survival" is compromised. When the map in our brain for a particular joint is foggy, unclear, or "missing," muscles that control that joint or area will tighten and guard to protect that joint. Most often, if you can mobilize the joint and clarify the map, those muscles will relax and function more normally. Pulling on a partially contracted muscle typically causes some low level muscle damage, can actually cause a decrease in muscular performance, and doesn't usually get to the root of the problem- the map. We've found time and again that the most common cause of tight muscles is either poor mapping in joints or muscles or there is a lack of strength. Is Stretching Bad? Stretching itself is not bad. It can be very useful, and has been used for decades for a reason. The problem with stretching is that it is time consuming and very often misapplied. To get the best results with stretching, you should have a pretty good knowledge of your muscular anatomy. Generally pulling on a group of muscles typically doesn't have enough "specificity" for the brain to pay full attention and allow results to last longer than a few minutes. "Are they loose yet?" You can, however, get great results if you know your anatomy and are able to gently stretch a muscle until it releases- remember, you're not pulling on just muscles, which are elastic. You're also pulling on a large bundle of nerves, which aren't! Most often we pull too hard and tend to "beat it into submission" only to have the tension return almost immediately. Stretching does feel good, and there is a time and a place for it- typically as a recovery or rehabilitation tool. Are we Just Lazy? Well, you can kind of make that argument. We're not necessarily lazy, but we're trying to be as efficient as possible. All muscles and joints have receptors that send movement signals to the brain to help feed the map. More receptors live in joints than muscles. Movement signals travel from the joints to the brain at 300mph- very quickly. The noxious signal (the "pulling hurt" feeling) from stretching a muscle travels 5mph. Movement is always faster and higher payoff than slow and static. We are beings who are designed to move! Intently moving a joint can send more signals for better mapping, release a muscle, as well as prepare the body to move (by moving!) in just a few seconds. Stretching typically includes a static 30 second hold for each muscle group followed by a 5-10 minute warm up. Is getting more done in less time with less required work lazy or is it efficient? There is a time and a place for stretching- usually after a work out, on a recovery day, or during rehab. It's definitely a useful and effective tool when used appropriately. But there are newer, more efficient techniques that can get the job done more efficiently and completely.

Good Pain or Bad Pain?

This is a very common question that is very simple and very complex. How do you know if that pain you feel is an ok pain to work through or tolerate or something that you should stop and take notice of? As we've talked about in previous newsletters, pain is a signal sent to and interpreted by the brain that something somewhere is not right and needs to change. It can mean "stop right now!" or it can mean "maybe you should do that a little differently- slower, smaller, faster." Pain is a signal put out by the brain to get our attention, and is usually the brain's highest priority. It means something is "wrong" and you need to fix it! Exercising, moving, or living in constant pain eventually leads to very difficult chronic pain issues where pain signaling goes "haywire" and becomes very difficult to shut off. So, we can't necessarily refer to any pain as "good," but pain is very necessary. If we didn't feel or experience pain, we'd be in bad shape. So, how do we determine whether a pain is an "OK" pain or something more? First, qualify it. Is it something I can relax into and it will go away? (not just tolerate or ignore) If the answer is "yes" then you may proceed, cautiously, with whatever activity you are doing or planning on doing. If it's persistent and won't go away, it's time to do something about it: Change positions if you've been doing the same thing for an extended period. ("positions" is open to interpretation- physical, professional, you get the gist!) Move! (mobility, walk, etc) Give your visual system a new stimulus (probably the most underutilized but most effective tool)- eye circles, near/far switches, side to side or up and down quick eye movements. Do whatever movement is painful/problematic smaller and slower. Try anything! Pain is very important to pay attention to, but at the very basic level pain is signals to and interpretation by your brain. It can be a very strong or a small signal. The key is to change the signal; change the interpretation- do something different than you're currently doing. Keep trying things until you find something that works! (odds are it won't take too long to change the signal- our brain likes new things) Obviously, if you are injured or have a severe pain that you can't improve, seeking the help of a professional is strongly encouraged. If you want to learn more about pain and how it works in the brain Explain Pain by David Butler and Lorimer Moseley is a great book that's incredibly informative and easy to read and understand. You can also check out Dr. Moseley's blog that has daily entertaining and up-to-date articles on pain and the brain: www.bodyinmind.org

How Stress Can Make You Dumb... Literally!

We've heard all about the negative effects of stress-and believe me, there are many! Stress can come from anywhere and anything from a busy schedule, over-bearing boss, paying the bills, starting a new workout routine, the workout itself, and even feeling guilty about missing a workout or slipping up and "splurging" on dessert one night. We all have stress in our life, and built in physiological mechanisms to handle that stress. In fact, we have an entire system designed to monitor and react to stress- the Sympathetic Nervous System. This system is an incredibly cool system that starts in the brain, but branches out through the body. It's primary priority is our immediate safety and survival, and it's primary function is prediction. Our brain is continuously taking in billions of signals each second from inside the body and from the world around us, processing those signals and responding accordingly. It is a very sophisticated response system- "Fight or Flight"- but not a very discerning system as to what type of stress or "threat" you're experiencing and how much danger you're actually in. As stresses are perceived, blood flow to the brain will change in order to fuel the most important centers of the brain that will help in our immediate survival- our visual, sensory, and quick response centers so we can quickly get to safety. The executive part of the brain in the front- the part that actually has the ability to discern and decide- gets less fuel and blood flow. (Think about hiking on a trail and the "jump" you get when you notice the snake out of the corner of your eye that ends up being a stick.) What does this mean? It means the more stressed we get, the harder it becomes to make an intelligent decision that will help us get rid of that stress. It's a vicious cycle! So what do we do about it? For one, just being aware of this process is a good step in being able to "right the ship" before it gets out of control. Other strategies for managing your stress: Move!: The "Executive Center" of the brain lives right in front of the movement center. Some good, intentional and quality movement will help fuel that executive center and make your decisions a little easier to come by. Sleep!: Sleep is how we reset and refresh. If you don't take time to recover, eventually you'll run out of fuel! Breathe!: Seated, slow breathing also helps to reset your system and balance your blood PH. Slow breathing into the nose for 4 counts, then out through the mouth for 6-8 counts will help reset the oxygen/carbon dioxide balance and can help "clear the mind." Minimizing stressors and improving the body's ability to safely respond to many types of stress is the key to living a long, healthy, and happy life. Don't let it bog you down- beware of what's happening in your body and take an action step to improve it!

Get Your "ZZZZZ"'s!

This past weekend, we both had the opportunity to continue our education and learn from the brightest minds in the Health and Fitness Community. Carmela stayed here at FE to host 50 trainers and therapists from the Bay Area and beyond being introduced for the first time to Z Health and the power of training from a neurological, brain-based lens. Andy traveled to the Z Health headquarters in Phoenix to add more "tools to the toolbox," and learn about the neurology of building Strength and Suppleness. Along with learning tons of new techniques and ideas, I was also reminded of this foundational "technique" that is paramount in any fitness endeavor: Recovery! You've probably heard us say it before, but we all need reminded- "You don't get stronger/better from the exercise itself. You get better from recovering from the exercise." Every one of our members are here working hard and training so they can reach goals and be better than they currently are. Every training session, whether here at the gym or on your own, has the goal of improving (at least it should if you're a member of FE!). At the basic level, we are introducing a new stress to the body that the brain has to pay attention to, learn what to do with it, and adapt so that the next time that stress introduced you know how to handle it better. Every exercise should make you move and perform better. The key after that is making it stick! Why aren't the gains you make in your mobility and training "sticking" the next day? It could be a problem with your recovery and not giving your body the proper environment to recover and adapt. One of the key ingredients for optimizing that environment is sleep! Most of us are good at spacing out our work outs to avoid overtraining as well as getting good supplements and recovery nutrition. But, in our increasingly busy culture, "63% of Americans say their sleep needs aren't being met during the week."(see the linked article below) Why is sleep so important? For one, it's our body's "reset button" to allow for rest and recovery from the day's activity. But also, new research is showing that sleep is when memories from the day's activities are being formed. If we don't get enough sleep, we don't allow the brain and body enough time to recover and "download" those memories of better movement and performance. There are multiple studies and resources that tend to agree that for the typical person, a minimum of 7 hours is needed for adequate recovery. But, I'd argue that if you're under a lot of stress or in a hard training cycle, 8-9 hours may be more ideal. If you can't get that much at night, maybe scheduling in a nap would be beneficial and refreshing. In our culture of "do do do," we tend to lose site of the fact that we sometimes need to step back and reset so we can "do do do" better, more efficiently, and maybe even more. And in health and fitness, it's not necessarily how much you do as much as what you do and how and how well you do it that matter most- including recovery!

Baby Boomer Brain Power...

One of the things we get asked about frequently is about the issue of aging and our "inevitable decline." We've been told for years, and even learned through science, that once you've past your prime, "it's all down hill from there!"

Research has changed and we now know that's not true! We used to think our "prime" was our early to mid-20's, when in fact, according to this great story on ABC News last night, our brain hits its prime in the mid-40's and continues into our 60's and 70's!
The key? Wait for it... Wait for it....
Exercise, Diet, and Stress Management!
We'll put a "Fitness Evolved caveat" on it and go a little further: Intentional Integrated Exercise, an appropriate Diet and more important, Appropriate Eating Habits, and Stress Management.

Watch this great video, full of explanation and research from UCLA's Longevity Center (2 minute watch time):

ABC News: Baby Boomer Brain Power