OUR CONCEPT
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ABS, RIBS & SHOUDERBLADES
Precision Flex for Maximum Spring
Muscle force maintains the shape of our bones in response to the downward force of gravity. Gravity is a fact not a theory. Evaluating the quality of our muscle force patterns must factor the gravity resistant success or failure of specific exercise challenges.
Life depends on air. This is a fact not a theory. The volume and quality of our air intake depends on the volume of lung space our rib position delivers. High rib position offers the greatest lung volume, allowing the often-neglected upper lobes of the lungs opportunity for fullest engagement, i.e., more air volume per breath. Evaluating the quality of our muscle force patterns must also factor unrestricted access to air.
Shape rules lung volume.
Shape rules muscle force.
Muscle force resists gravity by vertical strength – spring! Spring lifts the ribs and arches the shoulder blades allowing the lungs full range of expansion (air volume) from the 1st rib to the 9th rib. The arching shoulder blades opens the thoracic outlet, between the collarbones and the first and second ribs, ensuring unrestricted blood flow and unimpeded nerve supply to the head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers. Uplifted ribs position the coil of the ribcage to function as a dynamic springy shock absorber, directing impact upward through the muscles and away from the delicate spinal disks and nerves.
Gravity is prolonged impact.
Muscles shape our bones to resist gravity’s impact.
The shape our muscles and bones express is posture.
Posture requires force!
Posture is an expression of impact resistance. The shape of our posture delivers strength enhancing or strength defeating results. Skeletal muscles, the muscles that shape our posture, respond to thought. How we think or fail to think, radically affects our muscles’ success or failure.
Restricting air intake (lungs) and degrading vertical spring (ribs & spine) is the inevitable consequence of assuming we know all there is to know about posture; and assuming posture is somehow of no real consequence in resisting the debility of age or sedentary lifestyle. Such assumptions are logically preposterous, but unfortunately form the common attitudes about posture that lead to the unknowing and unnecessary sabotage of our vital working parts: muscle, bone, nerve, and organ.
Diligent exercise is no guarantee of escaping self-sabotage. In order for exercise to be of maximum benefit we need to examine what the exercises in question teach our muscles to perform. Muscles function according to patterns of nerve impulse, what we call muscle memory. Every exercise we perform instills muscle memory. The shape direction of that muscle memory in relation to the entire skeleton must be addressed in order to understand the true benefit or deficit affect. Just getting a pump is not sufficient perspective or method to understand positive muscle function. Bearing in mind lung volume and gravity resistance (spring) brings us to the best barometer of exercise design, and that is shape.
Shape rules function.
Shape steers force.
Upward springing shape ensures muscle success.
Designing exercise to instill greater and greater upward springing muscle memory requires replacing assumption about what we are doing, with attention to and curiosity about exactly what are we doing. Curiosity means examining the exact results of specific exercise. Results include not just experience of the exercise in performance but most importantly, the shape and expression of force our body automatically forms following the exercise.
Automatic abundant spring is the goal!
Automatic = unstoppable. Abundant = unending surplus.
Automatic spring is the wonderful result of disciplined thought and precise diligent action. Our muscles and bones can express an intrinsic mechanical vertical strength when we allow them expression unhindered by our unconscious tensions. In terms of addressing abdominal muscles and abdominal strength; it is paramount to bear in mind the abs relate dynamically to the ribcage, hips, and shoulder blades. Bearing in mind vertical strength - gravity resistant spring, as desired muscle memory leads to gymnastic style ab training: *hanging leg lifts, hanging oblique leg lifts, dip bar L’s, etc.
Rather than high reps, the extreme intensity of strength challenge involved in these gymnastic exercises produces powerful positive organization of upward spring through the entire torso. Increased muscle power creates opportunity for widely varying angles of muscle engagement both in hanging challenge and dip bar challenge.
The operant factor in this type of ab exercise is the extreme force requirement placed on all the muscles of the torso; so the abs are trained to work in strength concert with all the other muscles’ peak performance. Go slowly, working only in small doses to allow sufficient recuperation. Allow 3 – 6 weeks as an introductory period. Discover abdominal spring above and beyond expectation.
See you at the gym.
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SUCCESSFUL LEG STRENGTH:
Plantar Fascia - Achilles Tendon – Ilial-Tibial Band
Successful leg strength delivers vertical spring throughout the body, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head. Vertical spring protects disks, nerves, joints, and organs from the downward force of gravity. Producing abundant vertical spring is our skeletal muscles’ number one priority. Success depends on muscle strength – sufficient horsepower, and skilful steering – precise muscle memory.
Muscle strength is expressed through force.
Muscle memory steers muscle force.
Muscle memory programs direction, and duration of strength. Swimming, typing, riding a bicycle, driving, and playing a musical instrument depend on successful muscle memory. Once acquired (through training/repetition) skill based muscle memory produces an experience of effortless success. Muscle memory is acquired by repetition.
Conscious repetition produces skill.
Unconscious repetition produces habit.
The difference between skill and habit cannot be overemphasized. Skill adjusts to changing circumstance. Habit repeats regardless of changing circumstance. The most common cause of muscle pain arises from mistaking habit for skill. In plain terms: just because we do something a lot; doesn’t mean we do it well. In terms of walking, standing, and sitting, skillful muscle memory delivers appropriate vertical spring according to the changing circumstances of walking (up, down, fast, slow), where we stand and what surface we stand on (level, tilted, hard surface, soft surface), and where and what we sit on (car seat, church pew, park bench, bicycle seat, restaurant booth, office chair, couch, stool).
Muscle success – vertical spring, delivers strength, endurance, balance, confidence, and overall feeling of energy and optimism. Our bodies’ biggest source of muscle power is found in the legs. The condition of leg strength – available power and direction of muscle memory is the number one deciding factor in whether the body succeeds in resisting gravity with vertical spring or fails with tension and collapse.
Leg strength decides body shape.
Leg strength spring produces lean firm shape.
Unskillful leg strength produces sag and drag.
Skillful (vertical spring) leg strength automatically organizes the midsection, glutes, serratus, intercostals and mid-scapular muscles to form a long lean lifted shape. In contrast, unskillful habit driven leg strength depresses the ribcage, disengages the glutes and abs. To provide remedy we need greater range of strength and skillful direction to the legs principle steering mechanisms Plantar Fascia, Achilles Tendon, and Ilial Tibial Band.
To reorganize leg strength to produce vertical spring we need to examine the Plantar Fascia, Achilles Tendon, and Illial-Tibial Band range of motion, range of strength, endurance, skill, and balance. To understand this vital muscle triad it is most important to bear in mind: No muscle works alone.
No muscle force works alone.
Every muscle affects every other muscle.
Muscle moves bones. No bone works alone.
The movement of one bone affects all 206 bones.
No muscle works alone means we have to mentally over-ride the piece by piece way of looking at anatomy as if the origins and insertions of a muscle defined its scope of influence. Instead we need to bear in mind the muscles’ number one priority is to resist gravity with upward force – vertical spring. In other words, let us discover each particular muscle force’s range of strength and influence on surrounding muscles and bones and overall skeletal influence, bearing in mind:
The nervous system unites the body as one reflex.
Vertical spring organizes the entire skeleton with vigorous balanced muscle force; so the body functions as if the bones were floating in a sea of muscle. No bone works alone, means the position of every bone affects every other bone. Bones are not rigid and solid but hollow and springy:
Smaller bones are springy like bamboo, quick and supple.
Larger bones are springy like rattan, strong and hard.
Vertical spring leg strength begins in the foot - Plantar Fascia, drives from the heel to the calf and hamstring – Achilles Tendon, and accelerates through the thigh, hips, glutes, and abs – Ilial-Tibial Band. (Remember we are viewing muscle in terms of skeletal influence, not points of insertion and origin.) The range of strength of the Plantar Fascia, Achilles Tendon, Ilial-Tibial Band is to comparable to components of an automobile.
Plantar Fascia acts as ignition.
Achilles Tendon functions as the throttle.
Ilial-Tibial Band acts as shocks and steering.
The sole of the foot, the Plantar Fascia, is muscle. Like all muscle it delivers force according to its condition. In optimum function the Plantar Fascia operates like a tough springy trampoline, bouncing upward as the foot (ball and arch) receives weight. To repeat, the sole of the foot, Plantar Fascia is muscular.
Fascia is muscle. Muscle condition is based on response to challenge.
The more varied challenges we place on a muscle, the stronger and more balanced the strength performance output. The palm of the hand is also fascia type muscle. The range of motion and range of strength of the palm is much greater than the range of strength and range of motion of the sole of the foot.
The difference in performance is conditioning.
We use our hands constantly in a wide variety of tasks and gestures, varying speed, suppleness, and strength. The resulting greater and more varied challenges to the fascia of the palm through frequent finger, wrist, and forearm articulation increase available range of strength and motion.
Unfortunately the reverse is true for the sole of the foot – Plantar fascia. Incomplete muscle recruitment due to weakness, over-supportive foot wear – arch supports, orthotics, etc rob the Plantar fascia of the necessary stimulus to provide sufficient strength and skill to perform its number one task, to initiate spring from the ball, arch and ankle. Sufficient strength and spring can be easily developed in the Plantar fascia through simple drill, e.g.: Step Lunge, Bench Lunge, Achilles Spring, and Floating Wheel. These simple drills offer the Plantar fascia incrementally increasing successful experiences igniting vertical leg spring.
Muscles learn success by experiencing success.
Incremental challenges deliver increased strength and skill.
Once the Plantar Fascia ignites vertical leg spring, the Achilles Tendon extends spring signal from heel to calf, to hamstrings. Although viewed separately anatomically, the Plantar Fascia and Achilles Tendon form one continuous drive train of upward strength signal through the back of the leg. The Achilles Tendon range of strength and motion decides degree of calf involvement, ankle involvement - degree the foot can be flexed up or down, as well as hamstring and thigh muscle balance. Simple drill encourages greater Achilles spring: Steep Lunge, Straddle Lunge, Foot Spring, Hamstring Spring, Donkey Calf, Hamstring Hyperextension, and Aggressive Glute-Hamstring Flex.
Tight Achilles obstruct thigh–hamstring muscle balance.
Supple Achilles offers thigh-hamstring balance and vertical spring.
Supple Achilles multiplies vertical strength performance.
Sufficient spring from the Plantar Fascia and Achilles Tendon triggers vertical spring from shin to hip crest along the length of the Ilial-Tibial Band. To repeat, although viewed as anatomically separate, the Plantar Fascia, Achilles Tendon, and Ilial-Tibial Band form one continuous of powerful vertical Spring, (see article; “Vital Cords Diagnosis & Remedy”). The Ilial-Tibial Band acts as a sleeve along the length of the outer thigh muscles.
Tight Achilles creates tight Ilial-Tibial Band causing drag.
Supple Achilles creates supple Ilial-Tibial Band vertical spring!
The sleeve action of the Ilial-Tibial Band steers the power of the thighs up into the hips. By virtue of right-handed or left handed dominance, the left or right thigh is usually considerably stronger than the less dominant leg. Likewise hamstring strength is unequal although usually on the diagonal, right thigh dominant usually has left hamstring dominant, and left thigh dominant usually has right hamstring dominant.
Unequal thigh strength twists and tilts the hips.
Balanced Ilial-Tibial Band spring levels and centers the hips!
Ilial-Tibial Band vertical strength extends vertical spring up through the center of the abs, and the entire length of the obliques –hips to mid sternum- sparking spring through the mid-scapular muscles, creating shoulder arch and rib lift.
Successful engagement of the abs, obliques, and shoulder blades,
Depends on spring from Plantar Fascia, Achilles, and Ilial-Tibial Band.
Strength conditioning for the foot, ankle and arch cannot be over-emphasized. Understanding the vital triad of Plantar Fascia, Achilles Tendon, and Ilial-Tibial Band makes clear the necessity of conditioning primary steering and shaping muscles to trigger abundant vertical spring from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head.
Steering and shaping muscles like the Plantar Fascia, Achilles and Ilial-Tibial Band in the lower body, and Obliques, Rhomboids, and Posterior Deltoids in the upper body, exert a far greater influence on strength and shape than their size would seem to indicate.
All muscles are necessary.
Not all muscles are equal.
Strength is steered by habit or skill.
Skillful strength involves the entire body, every bone, every muscle!
Strength without precision creates more harm than good. Steering muscles need precise attention. Precision creates successful muscle memory. Precision means you think about what you’re doing. The measure of body knowledge is the skill of muscle performance.
If you can’t flex it; you don’t own it!
Your body is designed for strength, endurance, balance, purpose, passion, and courage. Have a great workout.
See you at the gym.
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CARDIO VITALS
Cardio strengthens our heart and lungs, as well as ramping up our metabolic rate to facilitate fat burning. The most common methods of cardio involve durations of effort-movement in a repetitive manner: running, cycling, & elliptical. Repetition often leads to boredom, loss of focus, and breakdown of precision in movement.
Mere repetition is not enough!
Precise repetition is our goal.
Precision yields stronger smarter muscles that continue to benefit shape, strength, and metabolic rate long after the exercise session is completed. The two easiest cardio activities to achieve and maintain precision are the stationary bike and the elliptical. Use these two actions biking & elliptical to develop a base fitness level of relative comfort at 30 – 45 minute exercise durations with varying intensity from a mild recovery rate to brief all out sprints. Strong efficient heart and lungs benefit every portion of our lives, rendering our bodies capable of high-energy strength output & precision and endurance.
Precision and endurance go hand in hand.
Do not sacrifice one for the other.
Take your time building up the duration of your cardio sessions. Maintain the precision. Precision form, once acquired will enable you to exert strength in a shape that automatically supports the spine, stabilizes joints, and positions the ribcage high enough so full volume of the lungs (especially the upper lobes) can be employed. In plain language go ahead and push yourself; but:
Push with precision, purpose and courage.
Courage overcomes fear and self-doubt.
Pushing ourselves in training involves voluntary suffering: muscles burning, sweating, and gasping for breath. Strength involves effort. Be determined to overcome weakness. Our bodies delight in strength. Have a great workout. Your efforts may inspire someone else. Be an inspirer! Strength is contagious. Pass it on!
Exercise can be prayer and worship.
This is the body the LORD has made.
I will rejoice and be glad in it!
See you at the gym!
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EMOTIONAL FITNESS & PHYSICAL FITNESS
In Physical Fitness we train for strength, endurance, balance, speed. Measuring improvement can be determined by more reps or more weight moved, for strength, increased duration for endurance, greater stability, for balance, quicker times for speed. Improvements are the product of training.
Training means you decide to overcome.
Training changes more than muscle:
Desire becomes decision,
Decision becomes commitment.
