First, let’s start off with the smith machine. As, we perform a squat on here. Do we really know what are the pro’s and con’s to this exercise. Well, I will tell you both the pro’s and con’s to this exercise . And, I will let you decide if you like it or don’t. As, you probably already read my blog from the ACL injury and if you did not please go back and take time out to read this important article on anterior cruciate ligament (known as an ACL injury in the knee.) As, we do a squat on a smith machine in perfect form the knee is going in front of the toes. And, the further you go into a full squat, the more pressure you are adding in the knee. The reason is because your knee is in front of the toe. When performing a squat with two dumbbells your movements of the knee should never go over the toes where the ACL can get torn. The reason why is because the range of motion of the squat with two dumbbells is just like sitting in a chair. But, we never really sit in a chair, bench, and or stablity ball when performing this exercise. So, when performing the smith machine you are not in the safety alignment and you can severly hurt your knees. That is the same for the leg extensions. When you are getting ready to perform a leg extension before you sit in the seat look at where your toes and and where you knees are. Well, the toes start off behind the knees and you are adding weight. So, this exercise is the same as a smith machine and that it can cause a knee injury. The pro’s to this exercise is that it builds the quads, hams, calves, and glutes. However, since this exercise does more harm than good. I would recommend not doing this exercise and doing a safer one.
The next exercise I would like to mention is behind the neck such as lat pull down and shoulder press. The reason why this exercise is not good is because when you are doing a movement behind the neck your hands is not in line with the shoulder blade. When this happens the rotator cuff is not stable and in time it can tear. The proper exercise’s are lat pull down and shoulder press.
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THE SMITH MACHINE, LEG EXTENSION AND BEHIND THE NECK EXERCISES
Stress: How can we deal with it?
There are several ways to deal with stress. One way is to eat the foods that make you happy. We all eat something that we love and enjoy to eat. And, that would be the kind’s of food we should consume. If you are on a sugar rush in the morning, afternoon, or evening. Well, that just may mean you are stressed. So, what I recommend to my friends to do is just take a long walk in the neighborhood, beach, or park. Or, if you have a gym membershipship do a yoga, weight training, cardio, and/or meditation class. Because, we really can’t let these issues make use stressed. Because, that is just not healthy for anybody. Just remember, it is very hard to find a solution to an issue when we are stressed. BE STRONG AND STAY HEALTHY!!
IT’S GOOD TO BE FIT
Creatine:Liver Disease and Kidney Failure
Will taking creatine lead to liver disease and kidney failure. There are some disturbing findings from a study published by Baylor University Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation that we must pay close attention to.
First, lets review what “creatine” is and how it impacts our system. Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that is synthesized in the liver and kidney and obtained in small quantities from the diet (primarily meat and fish). Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation has been by 15-40% (if supplemented in large dosages). It can enhance the cellular bioenergetics of the phosphagen system, improve the movement of energy releasing phosphates between the mitochondria and cytosol via the creatine shuttle, and enhance the activity of various metabolic pathways. (Baylor University).
Until recently the only serious “side effect” of creatine reported in the literature was “weight gain“, but that is changing. Concerns are being raised that when one takes to much creatine as a supplement, the body will essentially “shut down” it’s own production of creatine. What good is that? Why, not let the body’s creatine or something from a jar?
Further concerns are over fluid and electrolyte imbalances, as well as kidney, liver and muscle tissue damage with long term use-or use for high dosages. We must be concerned over two recent studies where long term supplementation in mice resulted in damage, and contributed to kidney disease in rats with hypertensionn (high blood pressure). That shouldn’t concern us unless we know any strength and power athletes who might be taking excessive amounts of creatine. Taking creatine for long periods of time or taking it while experiencing high blood pressure.
These studies were performed on rats and mice one might say-and therefore conclude that it could be different in humans. True, but also consider dangerous and unethical to perform such a study on humans, considering the potential for damage.
Create an environment where the body can produce the proper amount of the biochemical compound(in this case creatine-on it’s own through progressive training technique combined with a carefully planned recovery program. Overtraining leads to inefficiency and eventual breakdown and this is the number one cause of poor performance (and possible damage).
Next, your first line of supplementation” should be through the choices you make with the food you eat. We are involved in ongoing research into not only the type of meat, but also fish, cuts of meat and prepartation that impacts nutritional effectiveness of the food you eat! Meat and fish are still the best means of creatine “supplementation“ since is also contains all the essential components needed for growth and again, recovery.
But the exciting future of “nutrition” lies not in the bottle, but on the plate. This is our firm stance. We’re not against all supplementation, but far less supplements (in some cases, none) compared to what the muscle media would have you believe. Third is traditional supplementation. We are not against athletes supplementing their diets with vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and other intelligent products. But we know what athletes and elite performers really do to attain greatness, and it rarely matches the hype you seee in the media.
Considering theo new studies presented and the consequences possible with high or long term creatine supplementation, we continue to recommend a conservative approach to the supplements you take. A teenager will be influenced by the muscle magazine ads proclaiming creatine to be the only true path to strength and power (just like they’d also like you to believe the only way to lose body fat is through “fat burner” supplements). Both incredibly wrong and dangerous.
Athletes must be understanding of how a proper training program with progressive components and clear recovery modes will lead to exceptional growth and peak performance.
Meditation,Yoga, and positive thinking fights Depression
People with severe depression could benefit from a new form of therapy that combines ancient forms of meditation with modern cognitive behavior therapy, early research by Oxford University psychologists suggests.
The results of a small-scale randomesed trial of the approach, called mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), in currently depressed patients are published in the journal Behavior Research and Therapy.
The group receiving the MBCT treatment demonstrated improvement, while the control group receiving traditional “talking therapy” treatment, showed no improvement.
The professors leading the program are continuing in their work to pinpoint the exact elements of meditation and talking therapies that seem to offer the most help, curently to preventing future relapse.
Also, Positive thinking, or healthy thinking, is a way to help you stay well or cope with a health problem by changing how you think. It’s based on research that shows that you can change how you think. And how you think affects how you feel.
If you think in a positive way, you may be more able to care for yourself and handle life’s challenges. You will feel better. And you may be more able to avoid or cope with stress, anxiety, and depression.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy, also called CBT, is a therapy that is often used to help people think in a healthy way. It focuses on thought (cognitive) and action (behavioral). Studies have shown that CBT can help people sleep better and help them lose weight. It also can help treat depression and keep it from returning.
CBT can help you notice the discouraging thoughts that make you feel bad. These thoughts are sometimes called irrational or automatic thoughts. Using CBT, you can learn to stop these thoughts and replace them with helpful thoughts.
Healthy thinking also involves calming your mind and body. You can use one or more techniques. These may include meditation, yoga, muscle relaxation, or guided imagery.
Many people work with a therapist or a counselor to learn CBT. But you also can practice healthy thinking on your own.
HOW DOES CBT HELP YOU THINK IN A HEALTHY WAY?
CBT involves techniques that you can practice every day so that healthy thinking comes naturally. For example: May be you’re upset about a job review at work. Your boss praised several things about your work. But you’re feeling down because he or she had one small criticism. You might even think, “I’m no good at my job” or “he or she doesn’t like you.
Focusing on only the bad and not the good is an example of negative or distorted thinking. You can teach yourself to watch for negative thinking. You can ask yourself how true or helpful your thoughts were. “Why do I focus only on one criticism?”
You can learn to see that the harsh things you say to yourself may keep you from enjoying your life and work. With time and practice, you can learn to tell yourself more accurate and helpful statements. you might say, “I’ve done a lot of good work this year, and my boss noticed it. She thought there was one area I can improve. So I’ll think of some things I can do to get stronger in that area.”
CBT combines several ways to help you change how you think:
1-You learn to notice irrational thoughts about yourself. 2-You learn to stop the thoughts. 3-You learn to replace the negative thoughts with more positive thoughts. 4-You can learn to relax your time better. This also can lower your stress.
Sports-related Injuries-Such as Anterior Cruciate Ligaments
Less than one minute into the first game of the season, NY Liberty women’s basketball star Rebecca Lobo tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). This injury almost always requires surgery to reattach the ligament, and lengthy rehabilitation. She was out for the season. Six months later during a supervised practice as part of her rehabilitation she tore the same ligament again.
Since the mid 90′s several studies have revealed females athletes suffer eight times as many anterior cruciate ligament injuries as that of men involved in the same sports. This year alone. Soccer, volleyball, track and field, and gymnastics are among the growing number of sports with this problem.
If this same statistics were true for the men’s college finals they would probably call upon all the living Noble Prize winners to find a cure. Men’s college basketball leads to the pro ranks and big money for athletes, coaches, teams, sponsors, etc. basketball doesn’t have the same financial benefit (yet). And, unfortunately, in my opinion, that’s how much of the world currently works. It is not the way it should be. Many articles are currently pointing out the dilemma of increasing Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury but too often conclude there are no clear answers. True. But with all the comparative studies and ongoing research the clearest cause. In high school 1/100 student’s suffer Anterior Curciate Ligament injury. In college that statistic leaps to 1 to 10.
With college level competition increasing in intensity each year, the importance of a strong foundation, built up gradually, becomes essential for both safety and performance. That means effective training, recovery and competitive technique must be developed in Junior, Middle and High School. As one top volleyball coach pointed out, while a student in High School she felt that female athletes received less effective training than her male counterparts. In the words of this former All American, “They trained them like “girls”.
Train women like the athletes they are. Let’s end the double standard of training women with inferior technique.
Support: The knee is impacted by stress from both above and below. Excessive bodyweight will increase pressure on the knee-four pounds of pressure for every single pound the athlete is overwight. From below the support of proper footwear (molded shoe/arch) support can be a big help. If an athlete has a fallen arch (flat feet) and excessive pronation it dramatically changes the angle of quadriceps creating damaging stess.
Core Stability: The use of ‘wobble boards’ , physio balls and other devices to develop stabilizing muscles that support the knee is crucial. The stronger the support muscles-the abs, hip and back muscles should be a priority. Twisting movement should come from a powerful ‘core’.
Pre-Training: Athletes should begin a pre-training program 6 to 8 weeks before the season begins. In a true sense, the training season never ends for the serious athlete.
Jumping/Landing Technique: Coaches need to drill their athletes constantly on jumping straight up and landing light – toe to heel without twisting movements. It should be noted that in a recent study it was found that more injuries occur in non-contact sports as oppposed to cantact. Avoiding straight knee landing, one-step stop landing and sharp planting and cutting maneuvers may decrease injury.
Balance between Hamstring and Quadriceps: There is a normal 3.2 ratio in Quad/Ham Strength. Men tend to use Hamstring as stabilizers, women use Quadriceps as stabilizers and tend to be more “ligament’ dependant. Reaction time of female athletes is slightly slower and needs to be improved to place the stress on the muscles, not ligaments Drills like “land- strength -start “”can help and athlete develop correct form and play technique.
Pelvic Stability: Balance of the pelvis and lumbar spine impacts core stability and strength. Chiropractic evaluation and manipulation with corrective training technique as a follow-up support is essential. Modern Chiropractic treatment is uniquely qualified to correct these common biomechanical imbalance.
