Framework Personal Training

Kicking The Rock

paul — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 02:38:13 +0000

Days turn into weeks, weeks into years, years into decades. It becomes a responsibility, not an option when dealing with items of health. ALL of us have dealt with, or watched people we know deal with health issues. ”I will start tomorrow” becomes commonplace until we are comfortable failing at taking control of our health. Do it for yourselves, your families, your friends. Stop kicking that rock!

How Important Is Exercise Technique? By Paul Fischer

paul — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:28:47 +0000

The subject of exercise technique is a debate that should be put to rest once and for all. The farther the body moves away from a neutral position, the more wear and tear will occur. A neutral position for the body is an alignment of the ear, shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle from the side view. The more forward the head, the more the shoulders will move into a rounded position. This will promote a steeper Lumbar Spine extension. When this happens in movement it equals poor motor programming, which means you train the body to move like this more often in the future. We all are working against gravity and degeneration on a daily basis. Poor exercise technique only adds to this. Pain items are rarely the result of an immediate movement unless we are talking about a fall or loss of balance. Pain items from improper exercise form generally show up years later and cannot be traced. In the age of HIIT, P90-X, Boot Camp, and Plyometric Training technique is more important than ever. Movement for the body is healthy when it is proper movement. Proper movement will allow you to continue with your fitness plans and hobbies while keeping the nagging injuries to a minimum.

Photos of the action at Framework

admin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:34:23 +0000

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Stand Up For Abdominal Work! By Paul Fischer

paul — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 03:49:24 +0000

Do you perform most of your abdominal work lying on the floor, on a swiss ball, or on a bench? If you are top heavy with these type of training methods for your core training, we may need to stand you up. While these movements may provide a sufficient base conditioning start up strength, most injuries and athletic endeavors require the body to be well conditioned in three-dimensional movement patterns. Think Cable Woodchops, Standing Cable Pushes, and Standing Cable Pulls. These type of movements will provide better carry over to the way our bodies actually work for us. Think movement, not muscles. We do not move with isolated muscles, we move with twist patterns of stored kinetic energy! Please contact us with any questions as we are very interested and concerned with this topic!

Treat It Like Your Job By Paul Fischer

paul — Sun, 08 May 2011 17:56:33 +0000

Would you give 100% at your workplace one day, not show up for the next three, and finally give about 10% on the fifth Day? Unfortunately we have a difficult time applying the same behavior that brings us success in our workplace, and plugging it in to our health goals. We have one foot in and are “trying”, but seem to fall short of our initial goals. If we were to treat our jobs like the way we treat our fitness goals, we would be fired. No, our work is not always exciting and stimulating, but we keep showing up. To succeed in fitness do the same. On the days that we feel like blowing it off, realize that we risk losing the completion of a very important project. Not competing that project may have long term consequences.

Are Your Hamstrings Tight? By Paul Fischer

paul — Sun, 01 May 2011 23:36:56 +0000

To test the flexilbility of your Hamstring at the knee takes minutes. Start by lying on your back with one leg extended straight on the ground, and the other with the knee bent at 90 degrees with the foot relaxed at the glute. Slowly extend the leg of the knee that is bent. The leg should extend completely, or reach about 10 degrees shy of extension. Normal Hamstring flexibility at the knee joint is 170-180 degrees. A simple way to stretch this if your test comes out positive is to use a luggage strap or towel around the foot following the same procedure. This can assist in various injury prevention. Contact me should you need any assistance or have any questions as my instruction on this may need clarification.

BISON CHILI goes great with these FALL nights;) By Gina

gina — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 23:18:00 +0000

BISON CHILI is SIMPLE and EASY to prepare… even on a busy week night! Be sure to make enough for lunch, leftovers later in the week or freeze for a quick reheat on an even busier night! This recipe is a MEAT-BASED chili! Yes, it is bean free…packed full of great nutrition, amazing flavor and VERY economical! The chili can be made with bison, grass-fed ground beef and even ground turkey. I add lots of extra vegetables and spices…which allows for great taste variation every time you make it!!!

BISON CHILI: ”The Primal Blueprint Cookbook”

Ingredients:

2-3 slices of uncooked bacon, chopped

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic, chopped coarsely

2 lbs of ground bison or grass-fed beef

2 TBSP chili powder

1 TSP dried oregano

1 TSP paprika

1 and 1/2 or 2 cups water or beef broth

1 (14.5 ounce can) finely chopped tomatoes with liquid (a 28 ounce can can be used also) I also add 3-4 fresh tomatoes chopped

1 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder ***I don’t always use the cocoa powder…because I often just forget to add it…I know what you are all thinking…what women “forgets” the chocolate???!!!

1 TBSP apple cider vinegar

1-2 peeled carrots, cut into 1/2 inch dice or smaller *I also add 3 fresh diced zucchini, 1 bag frozen organic spinach, diced mushrooms, and an extra onion. (I feel that the addition of extra vegetables not only provides more quality nutrition to the chili but also adds bulk to the chili…as some of you may “miss” the beans)

Garnish chili with chopped avocado, cilantro, grated cheese sour cream or even salsa

Servings 6

Instructions:

in a large saucepan (4qt) cook bacon a few minutes until brown. Add chopped onion to pan and stir in bacon. When onions are semi-translucent add garlic and stir together. Cook a few minutes longer. Add ground meat (bison/beef) and cook until no pink remains in the meat. Take a large soup pot…add spices, water or broth…I use water and broth sometimes depending on how many veggies I have added to the chili. (or 3 cups of water and a low sodium vegetable or beef bouillon cube works too) Add vegetables… fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, carrots…and your own extras! Add saucepan of cooked meat, garlic, onion, bacon to large soup pot…Cover and simmer over low heat for one hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so to prevent from sticking…you can adjust temperature up or down as necessary to keep chili simmering, but not sticking to the bottom of the soup pot. Add vinegar and cocoa powder and stir well, adding additional water if necessary, then simmer uncovered another 20 minutes. Taste and season with Celtic Sea Salt, black pepper and I also use Bragg Organic Sprinkle (24 herbs and spices seasoning available @ Whole Foods).

If you like your chili more spicy add hot pepper sauce to the pot or to individual servings at the table…OR if feeding Jeremy…lol;)

*Quick Nutrition FACT* Bison, or American Buffalo, has changed little since the days when it roamed the Great Plains of North America in massive herds and was hunted by Native Americans. Nearly driven to extinction during Westward Expansionin the 19th Century, bison herd populationshave been making a comebackin recent yearsand are sustainably raised by numerous small family ranches throughout Western North america. Naturally lean and HIGHER in protein by weight than beef, grass-fed bison has an EXCELLENT ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids. My picky family PREFERS the taste of Bison over Grass-fed Ground Beef. Available @ Whole Foods in the butcher section.

how to kill a fitness goal… By Jeremy

jeremy — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 02:17:50 +0000

The idea of fitness and what it is to be fit is just about as elusive as finding the end of the rainbow. Most of the time we can only see a fraction of what is the rainbow, which is the same for becoming physically fit. Exercise itself generally isn’t the difficult part (generally is a major part of that comment), but rather changing your lifestyle to facilitate the increased stresses and pressured place on the body during exercise is. The potential for the human body to perform is phenomenal IF we give it a chance. Most fitness goals and dreams never have a chance from the beginning. For some reason most people believe that a hard days work and dealing with a sh%$#y boss, high stress levels, nobody cares, etc., etc. Are reason enough to to have a couple of drinks at night. Why, because they’ve earned it. Or at least that’s what they tell themselves. Did they forget about their fitness goals? No. But maybe tomorrows another day, or maybe they believe the ONE glass a day idea (which is a great marketing deal for the alcohol industry by the way). There are many different reasons why this happens and my thumbs can only handle so much typing. What is not in the pop culture of the drinking world is that it creates digestive system issues, and the next thing you have is irregular bowl movements and you get backed up so then you have days of meals just hanging out in in your digestive system harvesting a whole gem of warm fuzzy things. Alcohol is catabolic to the body, so building muscle is shot. Irregular sleep patterns jack up the circadian rythms so the body never has a chance to recover,and then you develop a caffeine cycle. And usually folks are so dissasociated with what they have going on in their bodies versus what should be happening in the body and so damn wrapped up in listening or reading what somebody else has to say without applying any of it, that fitness just becomes an appointment instead of a passion or a way of life; an elusive endeavor just like trying to catch a rainbow. The beauty of it is the dream is real! So real in fact we could all wakeup tomorrow with a new idea in our minds of the possibilities we still have. That we can live better, stronger, healthier lives and really become that change we all so wish to see in ourselves.

Pictures

admin — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 08:16:00 +0000

Boot Camp classes and lack of pulling exercise options

paul — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 17:09:41 +0000

The craze of outdoor fitness classes has survived long enough now to not be considered just another passing trend. This is a good thing as many people do not have the opportunity to get outside enough, find out how hard they can actually physically work, compete with each other, and be held accountable to show up for exercise through the people they meet. When was the last time that you were not sure if you could ACTUALLY make it through your workout? This all adds up to better health through anaerobic, aerobic exercise. Vitamin D levels have a chance of increasing by getting OUTSIDE! Jeremy and I taught a Bootcamp class in Bartley Ranch two summer’s ago and found that most people do enjoy finding thier personal pain barrier despite what they may be saying while going through it. It is important that all of us feel strong and not be told “you are doing great”, when we know we can work harder. Now into some of the difficulties these classes can present. The instructors need to be solid with their ability to vocally and physically demonstrate modifications for spinal pathologies, joint limitations, mental limits, and unforeseen pain items. This is a bit “fluffier” than Boot Camp was intended to be right? Too bad, as it’s very important if the particpants plan to continue. To get off topic, the thing that saved Jeremy and I from being just another couple of “yahoo’s” barking out orders is the fact Jeremy was in charge of fitness for the Navy troops. Not quite the Marines, but more than the zero military experience of yours truly. Now back to the outdoors. The Boot Camp class can lead to postural problems as well as nerve impingement items if left unchecked. The great outdors does not allow many options for pulling movements. Pull ups would be great but many areas do not allow for this, and even if there is a pull up bar, how many participants can do it? We were as guilty as anyone else in this area because you can push up the hell out of the class, but are limited to few, if any pulling movements. We tried bent over rows with rocks. If the pushing movements trounce the pulling movements, bring on the postural pain! A normal Thoracic Spinal curve is 30-35 degrees. Someone with a rounded shoulder posture may have a reading if 40-55 degrees for an example of the reading. If you continue to do push ups with this type of an individual, and not counter with enough pulling movements, this person’s health is being compromised. A 3:1 pulling to pushing formula might work well with our example. The Rhomboids and the mid-Trapezius are the muscles that need to be addressed. These muscles retract the scapula to assist in proper shoulder girdle position. No worries if you know how to row properly and get these muscles to fire. You now would have homework outside of Boot Camp granted that you have gym access, and know how to use it. In a seated row for example, picture leading from the elbows as the mid-back area draws together. The hands go along for the ride as the scapula draw together and apart. Sounds easy to do, difficult to do correctly. Most of us do well with a heavier dose of pulling to pushing considering that we work, drive, and live with the arms and shoulders positioned forward. Aim for a 3:1 pulling to pushing ratio of exercise and you have a formula to combat the lack of pulling exercises in Boot Camp.