DO NOT FORGET THE LOWER LEGS

By Rob Williams, For Canwest News Service


Tibialis toe raises - Adam and Eve time

Work all muscles regularly for great-looking pins.
Summer is the season for shorts, skirts, sandals and flip-flops. If you've got your legs on display, are you making sure they look their best? And what is this doing for your feet? Since many people are used to wearing supportive footwear for most of the year, the switch to less supportive shoes can cause problems with their foot function and overall alignment. This is because the muscles of the feet get deconditioned as a result of wearing shoes that constantly brace the foot.

Some exercisers might remember to do calf raises at the gym, but very few people make sure they work all of the muscles of the lower legs and feet regularly. To make sure that you have great looking legs, and functional feet that are stable and strong, it's important to challenge them with regular exercise, just like any other muscle group in the body. It doesn't have to take long, and it will pay off in terms of appearance, athleticism and comfort.

I find that if I do most of my lower-leg training with my shoes off I'm able to feel the exercises much more in the leg muscles. I also know that I'm improving the intrinsic support of the foot, as long as I pay attention to my alignment when doing the movements.

The exercises I've included this week are demonstrated by kinesiology student Heather Keep, and can be done outdoors with no equipment at all. Be certain to gradually warm up your body and stretch your calves before doing these exercises to prevent muscle strains. Always pay attention to your body alignment as you train and stop immediately if you feel pain or in any way unwell.

Rob Williams is a kinesiologist and posture specialist in downtown Vancouver. He welcomes questions at rob@williamshealthgroup.com

1. Tibialis toe raises



It's always important to avoid muscle imbalances across any joint in the body. Because your calf muscles are used all day to lift your body up and down, it's important to train the tibialis muscle that lies opposite the calf muscle, down the front of the lower leg. The action of this muscle is to pull the toes upward toward the shin. To work this muscle effectively, stand with your heels on the edge of a stair, while holding firmly to a handrail. Lower your toes downward, then pull them upward toward your shins, making sure that they come higher than a neutral position. This action should raise your body slightly upward. Be careful not to lean backward as you perform the movement. With 2 sets of 10-15 repetitions you should start to feel fatigue and burning in the front of your lower leg.

2. Hop-around-the-clock



Once you've warmed up your lower leg and foot muscles, it's time to challenge them with an athletic activity. Single-leg hops are great for developing power and stability in the lower leg and foot. From your starting position at the centre of an imaginary clock, hop to each 'hour' on the clock, then back to centre, working your way around the face of the clock. Perform 1-2 sets on each leg, with controlled movements, maintaining neutral athletic posture throughout the set. It's important to begin with small hops and pay attention to hip, knee and ankle position at all times. Advanced exercisers can attempt this exercise with their eyes closed.

3. Barefoot calf raise



If you've never tried it, it's surprisingly difficult to perform calf raises in bare feet on uneven ground. It's even more challenging to perform them while maintaining good neutral alignment of the ankle joint. To do this exercise, stand near a post or railing that you can use for support if necessary. Start using two legs while holding on to the support. Raise and lower your body weight onto your toes, being careful not to let your ankles roll inward or outward. If this is easy for you, try letting go of the support so that you have to balance on your own. Progress to using one leg with, and then without, the support. Whether on one leg or two, you should feel a good burning sensation in the calf muscle by the time you finish. Perform 2-3 sets of 15-20 repetitions with each leg.

WARM UP. SHORT BUT USEFUL TIPS

by DANIELA NAHAS, Yahoo Lifestyle



Warm up is a key component to a great workout. More often than not I see people at the gym starting their workout without warming up, either because they are pressed for time or simply can't be bothered. I cannot stress enough how important a proper warm up is to having not only an effective workout, but also to staying injury free.

What are the main reasons to warm up?

- Warming up will prepare the muscles and the nervous system for exercise

- It will raise your body temperature and increases blood flow to tendons, ligaments and muscle

- Having a warm body will give you the functional flexibility that you need to perform a given exercise during your workout.

Traditionally many people warm up by doing a light running or jumping jacks, which is fine for getting the blood flowing and the body moving, however if you are doing an upper body workout on that day that is simply not enough.

If you are working out your upper body you should be warming up your upper body specifically as well, the same rule applies if you are doing a strenuous lower body workout.

Some things that you can incorporate into your warm up routine:

Lower body days - do some light jogging to get the blood flowing, followed by some of the following exercises: forward lunges, lateral lunges, walking lunges, and half squats, hip swings.

Upper body days - do some light jogging to get the blood flowing, followed by shoulder rolls, a good neck stretch and arms circles.

Arm Circles - Begin by standing tall, feet about shoulder width apart, with a slight bend in the knees. Swing both arms up to an overhead position and then forward, down, and backwards, in a large circular motion. Repeat 10 times rolling the shoulders back and then reverse the movement.

Shoulder Rolls - Begin by standing tall, feet about shoulder width apart. Raise your shoulders up towards your ears (inhaling) then roll them backwards (exhaling), then up again to the ear in a smooth controlled action. Repeat 10 times rolling the shoulders back and then reverse the movement.

Have a safe workout!

TEN WAYS TO GET YOUR BEST BODY

Provided by By Roger and Daniela Nahas, fitness trainers and founders of Best Body Bootcamp

1. Set Goals

Simply saying you want to lose weight is not enough. Instead, set three specific short- and long-term goals that you'd like to achieve. For example, a short-term goal could be, "I want to go down two dress sizes by February 14th," while a long-term goal would be "I want to lose 15 lb of fat in six months."

2. Take a "Before" Picture

Take a picture of yourself in a bathing suit or sports bra and shorts. When you look at yourself every day in the mirror you tend not to notice changes in your body. Having a picture allows you to better see results and it's a great motivator.

3. Measure Your Progress

Don’t just rely on the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat so you may not see a change on the scale but your clothes will feel different. Take your base measurements and then re-take them on a regular basis. You cannot measure your progress if you don't know where you started from.

4. Be a Joiner

Getting a gym membership is often not the best solution for getting in shape. Too many people buy a membership but then don’t actually go on a regular basis because there's no structure, accountability or group support and personal trainers are costly. Instead, join a fitness boot camp, exercise class or other fitness program (try the Wish 20-Minute Shape-Up Club) where you'll have a set time and workout plan done for you. Bonus: You will learn proper form and technique, plus you'll meet people with similar goals that can give you support.

5. Flex Your Muscles

Don’t just do cardio! Strength training is an essential part of any fitness routine. It will build your muscle and increase your bone density. Not to mention, for every pound of muscle you gain, you speed up your metabolism, which means you increase the rate at which you burn fat. We recommend strength training one to three times a week.

6. Start Your Day Off Right

It’s easy to come up with excuses for why you can’t work out when you're busy, so be sure to book exercise time in your calendar and don’t double-book. We recommend working out first thing in the morning so that there are less excuses to get in the way of your goals.

7. Rest Up

Make sure you get 7-9 hours of deep sleep each night. Studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep have a tendency to overeat and are more susceptible to weight gain. Also, be sure to give your muscles a break by taking at least one or two days off from exercising each week.

8. Reward Yourself Weekly

If you eat healthy all week, allow yourself a cheat day to eat whatever you want. Knowing that you don’t have to completely deprive yourself of foods you love will keep you motivated.

9. Change Your Eating Habits

Instead of three big meals a day, opt for five or six smaller ones instead. Your body needs fuel every three to four hours, which also speeds up your metabolism so you are burning more calories throughout the day. Be sure to include protein (eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, fish), low glycemic carbs (brown rice, fruits, lentils, quinoa) and fibrous vegetables.

10. Eliminate Processed Sugars

Processed sugars are carbs that have been stripped of valuable nutrients. How can you identify these sugars? They are all white: table sugar, pasta, rice, and bread. Look for alternatives that provide a nutrition boost. Try honey in place of sugar and go for whole-wheat pasta, rice and bread.

Bonus Tip

Don't get caught up in the New Years resolution craze and try to make too many lifestyle changes at once. Start with a few realistic goals you can handle; join a group workout, walk to work, take the stairs whenever possible, jog with your dog instead of walking, etc. Once you have successfully followed this routine for a month or two, you'll be ready to add more to your routine.

Roger and Daniela Nahas are the co-founders of the Best Body Bootcamp – Toronto’s most dynamic fitness bootcamp. Roger has been providing fitness training and nutritional counselling since 1999. He has been featured in Muscle Media, a leading fitness magazine and was awarded the Sports Clubs of Canada Personal Trainer of the Year Award in 2001. Daniela has been a physical trainer for five years. She specializes in training women because she knows firsthand how intimidating the gym can be.

GOLF SECRETS BY ANDY BROWN. PART ONE

Hi Alex,

Hope everything is going well. I have done some GOLF TIPS for my friends and customers which I want to bring to your attention. Here we are...

"You Don't Improve. You May Easily Get Worse. And You Finally End Your Practice Session Frustrated And Dejected, Or Your Round, If You Are Playing, With A Shameful Score!!”

Fortunately, there is a cure for all this, a cure that is almost miraculous. The magic move that puts you on the right track immediately is simply this:

Start the backswing with an early backward wrist break!

Of course this sounds too simple to be true. It violates every rule you ever heard about starting the swing. Your first reaction is that I may have gone completely off my rocker. But it is true - and unless your swing is now everything that you want it to be, you will find out how and why this magic move is made.

The wrist break itself is simple enough, actually, though if you have been breaking in the conventional way you may need a little time to convince yourself of what is to be done and to make yourself do it.

Since the backward break is the first magic move, let's be absolutely certain you understand what it is.

First, hold your right hand in front of you, fingers together and extended, thumb up and the palm squarely facing the left. From that position bend the hand to the right, trying to make the fingers come back toward the outside of the wrist. You can't get them anywhere near the wrist, of course, but a person with supple wrists can bend the hand back until hand and wrist form a right angle.

This motion of the hand, straight back, is the backward wrist break.



The way the right hand should move from the wrist in the early backward break-straight back toward the outside of the forearm, with no turning or rolling.

The standard wrist break is quite different. Hold your hand again as you held it before. Now, instead of bending it backward, bend it up, so that the thumb comes toward you. That is the orthodox, accepted wrist break. Forget it. You will no longer need it.


To make the backward wrist break we merely push the heel of the right hand down against the big knuckle of the left thumb. This is a downward pressure of the heel on the thumb. When it is done, without moving the hands otherwise, the right hand breaks backward at the wrist and the left hand breaks forward or inward, the back of the left hand going under and facing, in a general way, toward the ground.



How the backward break is made, with the heel of the right hand pressing down on the knuckle of the left thumb. The back of the left hand begins to turn down and under.



How not to make the break. Wrists and hands have rolled, the back of the left hand has turned upward. The right hand is rolling too, instead of bending straight back.

At this point the club will have come back slightly inside the projected line of flight but the club face will not have opened. The face will be at about a 45-degree angle with the ground and, as you stand there, you will not be able to see any of it.



How the backward break looks from the side. Note the bend in the left wrist as the back of the hand turns down, and the position of the right wrist. Notice also that the face of the club has not opened.

We have not put this into the actual swing yet, remember. We are still working on the mechanics of the wrist break. It is just possible that at this fundamental stage you will refuse to believe that you can hit the ball with such a break. So make this test....

Regards, Andy Brown

SWIMMING TRAINING TIPS

This section of the site is dedicated to swimming training for both sprint and distance events.

There is an obvious relationship between swim distance (or more specifically, duration) and the intensity of effort from the swimmer. Assuming that mechanical efficiency in the water stays the same, the greater the intensity of effort, the greater the swimming velocity. At an elite level, swimmers perform the 200-m freestyle approximately 20-25% slower than the 50-m freestyle.

The point here is that the different durations of each event places different demands on the body's energy systems and will affect the swimmer's training program significantly.

A sprint swimmer typically has greater peak anaerobic power as measured by the Swimgate test compared to a distance swimmer for example. From a strength training perspective, explosive power and power endurance are more important than long term strength endurance. Conversely, the aerobic energy system predominates in events of 400m and above. For these distance swimmers long-term strength endurance becomes the training priority. Remember however, that distance swimmers usually take part in short-duration events during the competitive year so some of their training will mirror that of sprinters - just in different proportions.

The SWIMMERS BODY guide examines each of the components of fitness important in a swimming training plan, along with suggestions for exercise selection and training sessions.

STREET FIGHT TOP TEN MISTAKES. #10

Today is the last part of the letter from Al Steel, the Self-Defense Trainer who allowed me to pass it to my friends.



Mistake 10 - NOT GETTING HELP

This is the biggest mistake of all.
This is the mistake that keeps most men from EVER being able to defend themselves on the street and in dangerous situations.

I know, guys don't like to make themselves look weak or helpless. We don't like to ask for help.

Hey, I've been there myself. Let me tell you a little about me and how I figured out the best ways to defend myself out there...

About seven years ago I became fed up with my martial arts school and all the B.S. around it. I was so sick and tired of seeing students being taught what is best for the DOJO ... not what is best for the student.

So I quit! One night I was out with a friend, and I saw two guys arguing, pushing each other's chest and finally starting to fight. One guy got steamrolled, the other had a broken nose and they were arguing because they looked at each other funny. Great!

I can still remember that night...right then and there I made the decision to do whatever it took to learn the most effective ways of self defense! Not just the best techniques, moves and takedowns to knock a guy out instantly but absolutely everything that gets a person out of harms way.

Well, after a lot of hard work and trying all kinds of crazy things, I finally figured it all out.

I can not only give a guy the beating of his life if I really have to ... I can also walk into ANY room and make even the biggest and toughest guy think he better not mess with me. And the best part, I don't even have to use my fists to do that.

It has been a very rewarding experience. I no longer feel that sick, insecure feeling... like I must fear for my safety when I get approached by a mean looking jerk or drunk on the street ...and I might end with blood all over me.
I know that anytime, anywhere, I can go out and feel 100% safe!

I've written a book on the topic, and I've done seminars on both coasts of the United States and taught tens of thousands of men all around the world. But the REALLY GREAT news is that I now publish a free email newsletter three times a week
that teaches guys how to defend themselves on the street with or without using force!

I have a downloadable eBook that you can download right away and be reading it in literally MINUTES from right now. It's JAM PACKED with dozens and dozens of specific strategies for taking down an attacker, neutralizing threats, dealing with bullies,
effective striking techniques, and how to make sure everybody thinks TWICE before they want to mess with you.

To download your copy of this online eBook, just go here: Self Defense Skills.

I'll talk to you again soon.

Your Friend,
Al Steele

P.S. Do some friends a favor, and FORWARD this article to their email addresses. It might be the biggest gift you ever give them.