Chevy350TPI

Static stretching is not all bad! Static stretching has its time and place. You are damaging the tissue aiming to lengthen the muscle. Static stretching prior to workouts is not the way to approach a warm up. It shuts your nervous system down ... thus one of the best times to perform static stretching is prior to bed. Static post-workout is fine, but there are better alternatives (DYNAMIC stretching). By static stretching before a workout, you are really hindering your performance. You are essentially putting your muscles to sleep. You want to get blood flowing to the muscles - static stretching prevents blood from flowing to the muscles. Remember, we are talking about holding the stretch for 30 seconds here ... 5 seconds in each position won't cause problems. If you have a strength coach that is telling you to perform static stretching prior to a workout, they have not read any stretching literature in the past while, simply do not care, or have very little idea surrounding the idea of a warm up and how the human body works/responds. I will get more into the details soon once I find time to type up something on the other types of stretching.

I am educated to teach you how to be more active and take the smartest and safest path to a healthy lifestyle. I am not a psychologist, medical doctor, or dietician. I can help inspire you, but I cannot cure you. I can give you a foundation, but I cannot make you happier, thinner, or perfect. I can educate you, but I cannot do the work for you. I can challenge you and encourage you, but I cannot prevent natural bumps along the road. I can help you through the process, but I cannot gurantee that it will make it any easier. I can believe in you, but you have to believe in yourself. I can hope you become active for the rest of your life, but only you can make the choice to be active. I can make you stronger, but I cannot make you indestructible. I can hope that you are successful, but you have to believe that success is possible. I know that you can make it happen, but only you can open yourself up to the reality of a healthy lifestyle and allow yourself to aspire. This is my passion, my purpose, and my life. You must commit to living the life that I know is possible for you. Just a little something for those looking for a little motivation. More to come on the psyche aspect later.

The Warm Up Prior to exercise, it is necessary to perform a warm up. The goal of this warm up should be to prime the body for exercise. An adequate warm up may improve elasticity due to blood saturation and minimize the risk of injury to the ligaments, tendons, muscles and other connective tissues. For example, a general warm up could consist of 5-10 minutes of low intensity cardiovascular exercise followed by a few dynamic warm up exercises. A more specific warm up will have more in mind. The purposes of a warm up are as follows: 1. Increase proprioception (spatial awareness) 2. Increase muscle activation (neural drive) 3. Improve coordination and joint stabilization 4. Decrease joint viscosity 5. Incorporate movement similar to the movements of the activity (more sport-specific/athlete-centered) Most people will arrive at the gym and stretch … the wrong way. They will perform static stretching. This is where you hold the stretch in one position for 30+ seconds. Static stretching prior to resistance training will be detrimental to the muscle tissue and nervous system. In a December 2001 study in the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport journal, it was demonstrated that three sets of 15 second static stretches with 15 second rest reduced knee flexion and extension 1RM by 7-8%! As mentioned above, a warm up should increase blood flow to the muscles. Static stretching cuts off blood flow to the muscles. As always there is science behind how static stretching inhibits strength. Static stretching ultimately attempts to lengthen the muscle. It does this by decreasing neurological arousal and by decreasing the stretch reflex response. When training, you aim to achieve a heightened neurological sense and you do not want to go inhibiting anything like the stretch reflex prior to the workout. A decreased neurological arousal will decrease coordination, agility, balance, and volitional muscle activation. There are many different types of stretching and that will be another article for a different day. Prior to resistive training or exercise, it is recommended that you perform a variety of dynamic exercises to help get your heart rate up and prepare your body for what is to come. If weight training, proper use of acclimation sets is strongly encouraged. Examples of dynamic exercises include the high knee run, backward run, backpedal, lunge walks, lateral squats, inchworm, Hindu push ups, and the list goes on. Anywhere from six to eight exercises over the course of 10 yards or so (each) (or 8-12 reps if done on the spot) is recommended prior to exercise. There is more to the warm up, but I just wanted to get some information out there now. To come: Core Training – covering abdominal muscles, kinetic chains, proprioceptive feedback, and static and dynamic stabilization exercises. Force Production and the Physiology of Muscles – covering the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction, brief anatomy of skeletal muscle, and fiber type. Adaptations to Resistance Training (Neurological) – covering proprioception, motor unit recruitment, and reflexes. Biomechanics – covering mechanical advantage and levers, biomechanical concerns, and strength curves. Adaptations to Resistance Training (Muscle, Bone, CT) – covering bone formation, muscle growth, hormones, fiber conversion, and tendon + cartilage adaptations. Bioenergetics – covering energy systems, depletion/repletion, oxygen uptake, and limiting factors. Gender Differences – covering females and training. Stretching – covering all types of stretching and what type should be performed when. Training – covering principles, steps to creating a program, exercise selection, frequency, exercise order, rest periods, etc. Training for Power – covering components and definition, mechanics, development, and how to train for power. Agility, Speed and Speed-Endurance – covering speed, agility, objectives, training approach, and sample drills. Periodization – covering stress response, theories, and linear and non-linear models. Bodyweight Exercises – covering a variety of bodyweight exercises you can do at home. Quick Workouts – sample workouts you can complete in under half an hour that will leave you wondering why you signed up for this. Input on which you would like to read first would be great. That order is somewhat logical in terms of progression, but if someone wants me to jump right into quick workouts or something, that is quite fine. understand the science is not as entertaining/valuable as a quick read on program design might be. Keep in mind the views reflected in these articles are my own and repesentative of the proponents who developed the principles followed today. I am in no way going to gurantee complete accuracy as everyone is unique, especially when it comes to adaptations and responses. Furthermore, I hold no responsibility when it comes to you going to the gym and performing exercises. You are not clients so I cannot sit down one and one with you to determine if you are fit to start exercising. I recommend seeing a doctor prior to beginning any exercise program. I aim to provide the tools and knowledge for you to develop your own sensible program and modify your diet and/or lifestyle. I think that is all on that note. Oh, I do not work for nor represent any company ... so if I throw out a brand name, I will justify it. If you ask a question and I do not know the answer, I will tell you I do not know the answer ... and then find out for you. Respond to this thread how you wish. When it is all said and done (you give me list of the next two or three info articles you want to see) we will crop anything unrelated to the topic of warm up to keep it tidy.

If it is motivation you need, I can provide that. I would definitely be up for daily posts reflecting on my experience of training that day and to provide some sort of wisdom/guidance/motivation. I am sure I could find time to do an article once a week or so for sure. There is more to being healthy that "working out" and lifting weights. You need a balanced wheel - emotional, physical, psychoogical, spiritual, etc. I can offer help to the guys on here who don't want to go to the gym - bodyweight exercises in the comfort of your own home and maybe some modifications to the current diet. If you are willing to go to the gym and don't have much time, I can have you in and out in 20 minutes and if you want I can have you toss your cookies at some point during that 20 minutes. The components of fitness are strength, power, agility, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, and balance. I listed seven ... not just "strength" ... Remember - you can't fire a cannon from a canoe. I should stop before I go all night.

We have a ton of forums here already I am an advocate for health and wellness, but I'm not sure if a separate section it would attract enough attention. I would use it though ... and I would include pieces from my dissertation as well as actual lecture notes.

I have been on Autotrader a lot this evening looking for a used BMW or the like that is well priced. I will be trading in the .ca for .com shortly as at least vehicles are priced well down there.

I put a work order in for a Logitech Z-5500 set. It was changed to a purchase order a couple days later. Later that same day the IT guys came with the box and set it all up. It was in the system so I figured it didn't hurt to get one.

Juke Box Hero just finished. On to Baba O'Riley.

Pretty sure I have the music a little too loud in my office right now. Another night spent in my office. 9:25PM right now, it'll be nice to be home by 10.

I must have missed something ...

Same here - I'm freezing my ass off. Walking from the truck to my office or house is more than enough.

Should notice some nice improvements First GM product that I have seen without rusted-through floorboards.

I've been really busy ... I had to teach a personal training course this weekend. I'll get some more fat-loss specific stuff up soon.

Finally bought myself a cooling pad for the laptop and a Seagate external HD.

I'd be tempted to just do an 8" or two and keep it real basic with a single amp.

We are going to get raped over the next couple days as well.

The word cute comes to mind. Although, I will admit, they are fairly run to rip around in. You did swing a pretty sweet deal with the Silverado trade and payoff though

Nice to have you here, ANT!

Kent bought a Miata. Finally got in touch with his true personality.

Chill out and settle down.

Don't do drugs.

Get well soon, Kent!

That would be the ultimate Rick Roll... The Steve Roll. I'm still trying to comprehend what that would be like

Thanks for all the information, it is definitely being read (and re-read so i can really figure out what its saying) and is exactly what I wanted to learn about supplements. If you want to skip the type and link me somewhere feel free to. I'm not even close to being done yet - I have lots of information for you and everyone else. I really have no problem shedding light on the subject. I hope people find it useful and don't hesitate to ask questions if they don't understand something or want more information. Unfortunately, I can't 'link' you to my brain - this is why I'm typing for you

The first thing you are going to want to likely do is shed the fat and then see where that puts you weight wise ... then worry about bulking up a little bit. A good chunk of the weight you will take off right from the get-go will be water. You're already on the right track with what you posted above! If you want, I can put up a sample tracking of what I eat in a day for you to gauge what six meals a day looks like.