Functional Movement
Don’t get all Butt-Hurt cuz your Back Hurts; Clean up your Hips!
The source for back pain can commonly be found at the hips; more specifically, lack of complete hip extension. One of the byproducts of tight, weak hips is an anteriorly tilted pelvis, aka lumbar lordosis. Now, the pelvis may orient itself that way in static postures, but I’m typically more concerned if the person has the…
Read MoreGet your Mobility Game Up With…. The “Squat Matrix”!
One of the very first things that I learned during my introduction to Applied Functional Science was a concept called the “SFT syntax” and the Squat Matrix. SFT Syntax is the language used to describe the position of your limb(s) that are in contact with the ground….hands and knees, knees, feet…. in our case, the feet)…
Read More3D Movement
Today’s topic is 3D Movement, and how I’ve evolved my training philosophy over the years to incorporate it. When I first began as a novice trainer, still trying to figure out my ass from my acetabulum, I programmed workouts like most people and many bodybuilders still do, basing it on body part splits (everyone knows this… biceps and back,…
Read MoreFix for Tight Hips (Part III)
I wanted to continue with the series on providing the “Fix for Tight Hips”. In case you missed out, here are PART I, and, PART II of the series. Part II of our series is simply taking our half-kneeling position to a standing position: the Split Stance Standing Front Butt with Bilateral Hand Reach Matrix: What Does it Do?…
Read MoreFix for Tight Hips (Part II)
We’re continuing on with our “Fix for Tight Hips” series. Take a peak at the previous post to get yourself caught up if you haven’t already: PART I For today, I wanted to go over a tweak we can do out of the kneeling position. What Does it Do? Just as in the half-kneeling variety, we’re working…
Read MoreFix for Tight Hips (part 1)
I just wanted to post a quick one for today for you to check out. It’ll be the beginning of a series I wanted to share with you over the next few posts about environments and positions you can put your body into that will help mobilize and strengthen your Tight Hips. These will be…
Read MoreA few “Downward Dog” Tweaks
We’re all pretty familiar with the traditional “downward dog” position in Yoga; It’s a great stretch that works to lengthen the tissues of the posterior chain, or the musculature on the backside of the body from your plantar fascia to your shoulders. Here’s an example of a few tweaks we can employ… Variation 1: –…
Read MoreImprove your Mobility with “The World’s Greatest Stretch”!
If you take a quick poll of your average jane or joe that gets their sweat on at your local gym, and you were to ask them if they’ve heard of the World’s Greatest Stretch as a warm up before they got their main workout in, chances are you’ll hear crickets. Their warm up would…
Read MoreStiff Spine? Try These on For Size! (Part IV)
Hey all, I wanted to you today starting where we left off with our series on loosening up your stiff spine. If you missed out, here are the last 3 parts: PART I PART II PART III In Part I and Part II, we talked about Type I and Type II arm driver progressions, respectively, and…
Read MoreFunctional Cardio Commentary
I wanted to discuss one of my favorite fitness videos on Youtube. In it, Paul Chek crushes a functional cardio circuit. I’ve spoken about Paul before, as he has been a big name in the strength, rehabilitation and conditioning industry for the past 30 years, working with many high level athletes, individuals riddled with disease and…
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