From Inactive to Active!

     I have recently read some frightening news: in North America, most adults sit for about 9 hours each day. To put it lightly, this is terrible for your health. A sedentary lifestyle will cause your circulation to constrict, slows down your metabolism, your muscles shut off as they are not being used, and your connective tissue tightens. Over the long haul this could lead to more serious health conditions and in my opinion, should be viewed as a heart disease risk factor. This is a major issue, and could be the primary cause, for the fitness level (or lack thereof) of people in North America. All this needs to change!

     The possibility for change, great change, is born through positive thought processes. This is shifting your mind from thinking “what you don’t want” to “what you do want”. In order to do this there are a few steps you should follow:

1. Create a vision for what you’d like to create. Put it on a board, write it down, visualize where you want to go. 
2. Write a list of 5-10 inspirational books, stories, quotes, etc to help you learn more about the journey you are about to embark on and let you know that others have been in the same place that you are in.
3. Start a journal. List the areas you’d like to improve and begin tracking your diet, activity level, moods, etc. If you feel like crap one day or lack motivation, you will be able to reference your journal to understand why.
4. Take some time to sit quietly and be totally honest with yourself about where you are and where you’d like to go.
5. Make a commitment to yourself to put aside time each day to nourish yourself. Your loved ones should understand that this is important for your overall health. 

     Once you have gotten your mind right it is now time to organize a workout/activity plan. The following is for those who are currently living a sedentary lifestyle. A great first step is to do some work standing up. When compared to sitting, standing burns 1.36 kcal more per minute. Multiply that by the number of work hours in a day, say 8 hours, and you have burned an additional 500 calories. That is not a bad work day! If you can't stand at work, take regular movement breaks, have some walking meetings, run more errands, take the stairs, and just do something that involves movement. Remember that lack of movement will lead to disease and you need to use this motivation along the way. In addition, it is important to partake in some type of cardiovascular training. This could be as simple as walking your dog around the block five times throughout the day or using a treadmill. In a few short weeks you will be able to elongate those walks and before you know it you are walking 30-40 minutes with no problem! Then finally, the most important step, resistance training. Join in on group exercise, (on top of the workout, the social aspect is good for your overall well-being), buy a workout video, employ a trainer, or get some assistance elsewhere. Surround yourself with supportive people to help you along the way. Change is never easy, and it is especially hard when you do not have that support system to lean on. And when you lose focus or motivation, go back to those five steps previously outlined and evaluate your current progress. Great change begins in your mind. Be honest with yourself and create a vision for success!

Best of luck!

Chris Fluck

Preventing Running Pain

     The high for this weekend has the temperature set at 59 degrees which means only one thing: spring is finally upon us. With that being said, I imagine a lot of you will be lacing up your running shoes and hitting the streets for some miles on the road (I, myself, might be one of the many). But runner beware, injuries to the ankle, feet, and knee are at an all-time high and often times it comes from a lack of strength and stability and our footwear can be at fault for this!

     Over the last few decades there has been an influx of performance footwear. We have high tops, low tops, ankle taping, braces for the ankle or knee, different types of sleeves and the list can go on. On paper this seems like a great thing but our reliance on this has gotten a bit out of hand and could be the cause for many of our running related injuries. For example, let say we wear ankle braces as we run or exercise. This additional support and stability results in all but complete dismissal of mobility of the ankle joint. The lack of mobility prevents the ankle from doing its job of absorbing stress. But if the ankle is not absorbing stress what is? Hint: work upwards along the kinetic chain and what do you find? The knee joint. The primary function of our knee is to offer stability but the lack of ankle mobility forces the knee to take on a new role. This new role diminishes the knees ability to offer stability which will eventually lead to pain in, or around, the knee joint. And then we go out and look for knee supports to go with our ankle supports and next thing you know our hip is sore, or our back hurts and we look for the next band-aid solution instead of focusing on the real issue.

     As you experience some pain your goal should be to restore function to the weak link in the chain. When you do this, you allow the surrounding links in the chain to function as they should. A very simple way to do this is to remove your shoes during your warm-ups or lower body weight training sessions. A book titled Born to Run gives good insight on the benefits of barefoot training. I am not recommending running miles upon miles barefoot or with minimalist shoes. You will be cruising for a stress fracture if you do this. I am recommending going through some warm-ups or weight training sessions without shoes on. Why go barefoot? Our foot is one of the most intricate pieces in our body. It has 26 bones, 33 joints, 12 rubbery tendons, and 18 muscles. This opens the door for tons of injury opportunities, especially when we have deconditioned musculature in the foot. When we go barefoot we strengthen the foot. The foot is the first link in our kinetic chain. As previously written, if there is a weakness in one part of our chain it will effect the next link. And when we cushion our foot with these fancy new shoes, molds, or braces, we decondition our foot musculature. As running legend Arthur Lydiard once said, "When you support an area, it gets weaker. Use it extensively, it gets stronger". Remember this when you purchase your next pair of shoes. And to reiterate my previous warning, if you try to go barefoot or minimalist shoes without first building strength, you are cruising for a stress fracture! 

Enjoy the weather and hit the streets this weekend for some roadwork!

Chris Fluck

What I've Been Reading

My Top Three:
A Long Way Gone
This is the memoir of a man who grew up as a boy soldier in Sierra Leone, a once proud and friendly country, but is now going through a civil war. After a series of attacks on villages, men and boys as young as 9 were conned into fighting for their "army". They were told to "visualize the enemy, the rebels who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you". Between that and the copious amounts of pills, marijuana and cocaine they were given, these boys turned into violent killers. Then one day a catholic organization, Children Associated with War (CAW), came to take the child soldiers away from their current state and re-unite them with their former community. This book puts life into perspective in terms of the struggles that we face in our own lives.

Gates of Fire
This book was long but definitely worth the read. This was the story of the Spartan warriors and the Battle of Thermoplylae told by the only Greek survivor (not exactly the same story that the movie 300 tells). Leading the Greek force were 300 Spartans. These men were chosen because they were all sires, which is basically men who had living sons. Should any of these men perish in battle, their family would live on through his son. An all-sire unit was essentially a suicide unit. After great initial success, they ultimately meet their match. There motivation: the man who stood at their shoulder. This book is a lesson in selflessness and believing in the greater good of a team, company or organization. Great read, highly recommended.

The Gift of Fear
This book was referenced in one of Malcolm Gladwell's books and fortunate that I was finally able to read it. This is a lesson in one of our basic survival signals: fear and trusting out intuition in potentially violent situations. Intuition is our most complex cognitive process but at the same time our simplest. This book is a step-by-step guide for individuals to trust their intuition when dealing with people and how to identify harmful character traits in those who we encounter. In the end, our goal remains the same, "avoid being in the presence of someone who might do you harm". This book is a tremendous resource on how to do just that!



Fitness Books
TRX Suspension Training. It was a basic guide to the benefits of the TRX training system. This unstable training approach allows you to perform bodyweight exercises with very low compressive forces but high muscle activation. That is a win-win in my book. Do not build an entire program around suspension training but mixing some of it in with your strength exercises will work wonders for core stability.  

Kettlebells from the Ground Up
This one was a 40-plus page guide to the Turkish Getup and ways to improve it. It breaks the move down into 7 steps and offers drills to train this complex maneuver. This exercise is a must have and great way to boost strength without losing any mobility.

Football, Eating on the Road and 10,000 Swings

     Every year I get an opportunity to go to travel a bit and attend clinics. The past few days I was in Atlantic City attending one of the Glazier Clinics for football coaching. There are a wide variety of speakers and any topic you can imagine. I had an opportunity to listen to some NFL, college and high school football coaches who have been doing it a lot longer than I and been through many of the same things other coaches do. It also gives you an opportunity to network a little and make some new contacts. I spent a great deal of time listening to Complete Quarterback founder Chris Johnston and got some great things from him. If any of you have a child looking to attend a camp or get some quarterback training, I'd highly recommend working with this company. You may even see me there working a camp or two!

     When there is some good, there is also some bad. Eating healthy food during this trip was tough. I think the only time I saw a vegetable was on a hoagie or steak sandwich. Everything I planned to do just didn't work out. I forgot to bring some snacks, it was tough to stay hydrated, and I did not do any type of physical activity. A few days of inactivity never killed anyone but when you mix that with horrible food choices it is rough on the body. But tomorrow is a new day and a new training program.

     Starting tomorrow, March 2nd, I will attempt a new program. Well, actually it is more of a challenge. This is called the 10,000 Swing challenge. Over 20 workouts, you will do 10,000 swings. I spent the past few weeks preparing my body (and grip) for this program. Over 20 workouts you will do 10,000 kettlebell swings. For men, you will use a 53 pound kettlebell. The women use a 35 pounder. Here is how you do it:

10 Swings

1 rep of strength exercise

15 Swings

2 reps of strength exercise

25 Swings

3 reps of strength exercise

50 Swings

Rest

That is one round. Repeat this four more times and you have 500 swings in one session. The strength exercises you choose from are the Military Press, Goblet Squat, Chinup, and Dip (for the dip you do 2-3-5 on the reps instead of 1-2-3). You change the strength exercise each session. This program is designed to test your grit, increase lean body mass, and reduce body fat. 

Chris Fluck

The Levels of Fitness Programming

       Before we get into the good stuff, I want to go over what will make your program a success. There are many ways to train your body and there are many ways that work. The consistencies in the success stories deal with habit and structure. Without habitual behavior, it is going to be hard to reach your goals. Just like brushing your teeth has been ingrained in your daily routine. You want to create that same kind of habit with your lifting routine. In order to do that, create structure in your day and in your training schedule. You should always have a plan and have a purpose each time you enter the weight room. Execute your daily routine without deviation and the accountability for your actions will be improved. Now on to the training stuff!  

     There is a natural evolution of training. The first level is what I will call training freestyle. These people just show up to the gym, do whatever they want, and leave. Some training is always better than no training but when you aren't maximizing your time when you have no plan, no progression, and no record keeping. The second level of training is chop-shop programming. These individuals mix and match a bunch of different ideas they've read or got from their "mentors" and call that a program. The issue with this is that by doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that, you aren't really following a program. Programs are created for a reason. If you are going to follow one then do just that. Don't substitute this for that and think you are still doing the program. You're not! The third level is what I'll call exact recipe programming. This is the individual who religiously monitors their tempo, makes sure everything is working right, following someone's plan to a T, but put so much effort and energy into everything being perfect that they forget to train hard. The fourth level is template programming. This is the individual who has a plan and a rough idea on periodization. They are experienced enough to have a little flexibility and understand that some days you just might not have it. This individual is in it for the long haul.

     For somebody that is looking to get to level four, I will give you some basic guidelines for how to start building your very own template. These workouts should be full body workouts done three days a week. A basic template is listed is as follows: upper body push, upper body pull, any type of squat, something that involves a hip hinge (Deadlift, KB Swing, Romanian Deadlift, etc), an exercise that is core/trunk related, and a loaded carry. The carry is often neglected but if you have an opportunity to push a sled or carry some heavy weights around, DO IT! They are a game changer and extremely taxing on your body. Every day you lift, you can change the exercises up a little so you aren't constantly doing the same stuff. So for the upper body push, bench one day, military press another, use dumbbells, press only one arm at a time, etc. Use the same variations with the other exercises as well. A simple rep scheme to follow in the beginning is a 10/8/6 program. There are many ways to do it but the 10/8/6 program is a good place to start. Each week you try to beat your previous weeks best lift. Lastly, never miss a rep (if it calls for 6 reps make sure you get 6) and never sacrifice quality for quantity. Take some time this weekend to put some ideas on paper and create your plan for the upcoming week. Keep me posted on how you're progressing!

Chris Fluck

Whatever happened to that kid?

     This past weekend I had an opportunity to be around some coaching peers in Easton's wrestling room as we were there for a scrimmage. The topic of conversation quickly turned to long term athletic development with our wrestlers. We talked about those kids who dominated youth sports and then never heard of them again as they moved up in class or just stopped competing (70% of young athletes quit before the age of 13. The top three reasons: adults, coaches and parents). This isn't just a wrestling issue, it is a youth sports issue.

     This is caused by the win-at-all costs youth sports environment (the same can be said for the AAU culture in basketball). The coaches at the lower levels are not talent identifiers, they are talent selectors. They choose the most physically developed kids for their team and cut the smaller, less athletic players because they can not help them win now. The cut players get put on lesser teams with lesser coaches and in weaker leagues. Some of these kids persevere, the others wither away. The "elite" kids train, get good coaching, but often rely on what has worked for them in the past when they had a physical advantage over their competition and are not as open to learn. This I have seen on many levels with wrestling. There are moves that work in the youth league that do not work in Junior High. There are moves that work in Junior High but not work well at the High School level. Same for High School to College to International competition. The kids who are able to adapt, display a work ethic, and are excited to learn will continue to improve. But the "elite" kids who aren't open to change and learning are the ones who fall off the map. As their physical advantages mitigate, they are supplanted by the kids who develop a little late, are more technical, coachable and have the grit to persevere because they had to do it the hard way.

     How do we fix it? I believe there are two ways to develop our youth. The first is participation. The number one determinant when choosing a team to play for is actually getting on the field. Getting mat time, field time, track time, etc is a great learning tool. Sitting on the bench, not so much. Choose a team that will allow you to learn through competition. The second, shift the focus from wins and losses and put a focus on improving the root of your game. Continual, daily progress is the only way to sustain long term athletic development. Late bloomers are common in athletics and it important to not rush development. Stop cutting players at such a young age and focus on developing these players (and not just the elite ones). We need to focus on the root of sport. There is too much of a focus on competition without attention to individual detail.

Chris Fluck, CSCS

New Year, New Opportunities

     Thomas Edison once said that "opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work". There are many reasons that some seize opportunities and an even longer list of why people do not. Maybe you are worried about doing something wrong, not being totally prepared, feel unqualified, not willing to fail, or like Edison said, not willing to to put in the work. Opportunities do not come on our time. When they present themselves, we need to be ready!

     This new year will bring on many new opportunities. In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell states: "as psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent plays and the bigger the role preparation plays". To discover what is possible, you need to have an idea where you want to go and how you are going to get there.  This comes with preparation. If you aren't happy in your current state, do something about it. Create goals. Write it out on paper. And begin exploring new possibilities. Yes, this is going to take some work. But if you are willing to put in the work, and portray persistence and doggedness toward achieving your goals, the opportunities will eventually come in. And when that perfect opportunity knocks, you will have the presence of mind to seize it. If you don't, someone else will.

     These past few months, that Edison quote couldn't be more true for me (which is why I have been slacking with these blog posts). I have been fortunate enough to be offered a few opportunities that I couldn't pass up: the first, Junior High wrestling coach, the second, a job offer at Steel Fitness Premier in Allentown. Combine that with previous work commitments and I watched my free time slowly disappear. Over this process I have learned a few things: never become content in your current state, make yourself available for new challenges, and don't stop pursuing what you want. Three months ago I interviewed at Steel Fitness Premier. After three interviews I never heard back from them. This was after striking out at another company. I was pretty bummed. Until a month ago I saw they had another job posting. I decided to apply once again and see what happens. As it turns out, management changed (I had no clue) and they were looking for new people and offered me a job. Not getting the offer the first time was a tough blow (sorry for the lack of a better word) but after I stopped pouting, I got over it. Opportunities aren't a thing of luck. Luck is winning the lottery. Opportunities come to those who go after them and explore the possibilities. And just like Edison said, it may take a little work but in the end, you can obtain anything you want if you stay persistent!  

Hope you're staying warm and enjoying this winter weather!
Chris Fluck