Attainable Growth Fitness Blog
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 wherewithal to be able to move OUT of that position. If it cannot, chances are your lumbar spine ain’t liking it that much, and it’s certainly not conducive with long term back health. One of the main issues involved with tight, weak hips is excessive compression of…
Read MoreYou’re Not Losing Weight, and This Is Why (part 1)
I get it. You’re watching your caloric intake, you go out for a run, hit the weights, go for a swim, bike, etc….during the week. Then the weekend rolls around, you hit the bars with your friends, maybe go out to eat 3 or 4 times, Then Sunday night rolls around, and you’re feeling guilty about how much you “misbehaved” the previous 2-3 nights: (not groovy, baby.) Next thing you know, 2 months have gone by, and you haven’t lost a pound of weight, let alone the fact that your butt isn’t looking any more awesome in your favorite pair of jeans that used…
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) could be in during any squat variation. S stands for a sagittal plane tweak, F for a frontal plane tweak, and T for a transverse plane tweak. For example: XXX = basic squat. feet shoulder width apart, no tweaks in any plane LXX/RXX = Left…
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, chest and tris, legs and shoulders, arms and abs, etc.). Then I started to wise up, and it was in 2006 when my good friend, college rugby teammate, and one of the head nutritionists at Precision Nutrition, Brian St. Pierre introduced me to the concept of pushing and pulling,…
Read MoreSteady State Cardio vs. Interval Training Cardio – Key Takeaways (Part III)
We’ll keep today brief with a summary wrap up of points made in part I and part II Here are the most important things to consider when choosing between steady state cardio vs. interval training cardio, as it relates to your health and fitness goals: 1) Interval training is more time efficient. You get the same, or improved amount of calories burned working out at a higher intensity when compared with steady state cardio, in a fraction of the time. 2) Interval training “stirs the pot” inside your body much more so than traditional cardio. It stimulates a much greater release…
Read MoreBehavior Change (Part IV) – Creating a Starting Point
We’ll get straight to the business for today, which is continuing where we left off last time with regards to establishing the “healthy mindset”. You can get caught up on that HERE. So we outlined 3 components that make up the proper establishment of a healthy mindset, and, without a doubt, creating a firm, solid starting point is the most important step to take. Without it, we have no foundation upon which we can build up our pyramid of health. With that being said, since this step is so important for long lasting, permanent change, there are so many individuals…
Read MoreBehavior Changes (Part III)
Moving along, today we’ll cover #3 on the list of goal-oriented behaviors you can employ in your pursuits of achieving health/fitness greatness. If you missed the first 2, take a peek at the links below: PART I PART II 3) MAKE THE LIST, SIGN THE CONTRACT A MAKE THE LIST, SIGN THE CONTRACT Ahhh yes, the binding agreement. Look, I know it might sound silly to some, but if you write down what you’re trying to accomplish, make a statement before the dotted line at the bottom of the contract, it immediately becomes more powerful. There’s something to be said…
Read MoreBehavior Change (Part II)
I wanted to continue with our series on behavior change you can implement to start putting your goals into actions. Last time we talked about how planning meals ahead of time leads to success with weight loss goals. For today, I wanted to discuss the all-too-often-used excuse for not making your goals happen… whatever it may be, that thing I’m talking about is this: “I don’t have the time.” Piggy-backing off of the first behavior change I previously spoke about, time management is a major crux for successful outcomes of goal achievement. It is understandable if you miss a weight training or conditioning session…
Read MoreBehavior Change (pt. 1) Meal Planning
Behavior change is one of those buzzword phrases in fitness, and one thing that is undeniably tied with it is meal planning. For today’s post, I wanted to start a discussion on a few behavior change habits you can implement into your health and fitness regime like, right now. Today we’ll cover meal planning. Let’s get it movin’! 5 Healthy Behavior Change Habits to get you crushing your goals: 1) Don’t Plan to Succeed, Succeed by Planning… Your Meals, Baby! This one is by and large the most successful behavior change practice for the clients I’ve worked with. It places full responsibility on…
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? Just as in the kneeling variation, we are focusing on opening up the anterior hip using overhead arm drivers to facilitate achieving new motion from the top of the body, downward toward the hip. Since we moved the position from kneeling to standing, we are…
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