EQUIVITA
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Contact/Location
    • Media
    • COVID Protocols
  • Services
    • Initial Fitness Review
    • Fitness
    • Group Classes
    • Massage Therapy
  • Virtual Studio
  • Partners
    • Equanimity
  • Blog
  • Community

Rest Key:  ideas and considerations from the staff at EQUIVITA.

9/20/2020

0 Comments

 
From the pause between heart beats (the diastolic phase when the heart fills with blood) to a full day of recovery, you need rest to enable adaptation. And if you have experienced soreness after you spent a few hours gardening, you know that the body is amazingly specific with adaptation. Certainly there is some overlap, but in general your body will adapt to what you do. Actually, I should say “is” adapting, because it is happening right now. 

When I think of the body’s amazing ability to adapt to find the most efficient way, I consider a dose-response relationship. For instance, my body, your body (really every body past the age of about 18) is actively trying to decrease the amount of muscle that it has to maintain. Muscle is Calorically expensive for the body to maintain and, thus, by definition it is not efficient. So, for efficiency the body will breakdown and use as energy any muscle that is not needed. This is why the body is so great at developing biomechanical “cheats” where it leverages on joints - so it can get rid of the muscle - and why maintaining muscle is so much harder as we age. However, if you have reminded the body that it needs the muscle or even pushed it hard enough to need even more muscle, then during your rest time your body will be actively developing and healing the muscle instead of dismantling it. 

Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying “Rest is best when earned” and I feel this applies not only to the better rest with a feeling of accomplishment, but also that during your rest you are actively becoming better prepared to take on the next challenge. 

As always, let me know how I can help.
Adam    
A REST FOR THE BODY AND MIND

Rest is crucial to our survival. We know this because if we didn't rest, we wouldn't live as long or evolve as we have over the years. What comes to mind when we think of rest? Sleep, right? Mostly yes, that's right. Sleep is a way to help your body rest and recover from your day, but there is another way we can rest our bodies. Massage. 

Think about a time when a little irritation has popped up in your neck, or your shoulder, or your leg. What was the first instinct you (probably) had? Rub it! Manipulation of the soft tissues in our bodies is a good thing, and we should be doing it more than just when those little irritations pop up! Massage can help with getting those little pains to not occur as often, simply by loosening up the muscles. Let's say you haven't worked out for a while and decide to get back into it, and go to the gym and maybe you get on a leg press machine. Your legs haven't taken on that particular kind of load in a while, so you have to get familiar with that movement again. After you leave the gym, and go home, the next day you probably have some soreness from the workout.

What if we told you that if you were to get a massage after a workout like that, you may not have as much soreness in the next couple of days? Crazy right? Here's the deal. Massage is defined as the mechanical or manual manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. What this means is that when we choose to do massage therapy after a workout, what happens is this: quite literally, the therapist is kneading your muscles like bread dough, in order to get all of the old blood, nutrients and other waste that may have accumulated, out of your muscles so that your body can replenish them. This gives your muscles more movement and they can feel much more soft, or pliable, than they had before a massage. 

Here is another cool thing about massage. Similar to putting your body through weight training and cardio workouts, a massage is another way to train, or 'workout', your body and your mind. When we give our body the opportunity to rest, and relax with massage, we can lower the amount of the stress hormone cortisol, which can give us an even deeper sense of calm and relaxation, and help alleviate some of our stress. This, in turn, can help with how tight our muscles may be within our bodies. Some folks clench their teeth with stress, some folks hold stress in their neck muscles -- our body doesn't care where it's held, only that we do hold it. With massage, we can help reduce the amount of stress you can hold in your body. This also gives us the ability to recognize that we are in fact holding stress, and becoming more aware of doing something about it. This is also about taking time out for ourselves, because we simply don't do it enough. Making ourselves a priority is hard, and it can be hard to maintain, but when we do that, we create a space that allows rest from our life, and we can find those things that help us recover best.

Hopefully massage is already one of the ways you create and receive rest. If it hasn't been yet, give it a try! It really is an amazing tool that can help us with so many aspects of our life. 

All the best,
Cheryl

REST IN DIGESTION

In the past, we have featured content about how it is necessary to digest anything experienced through the senses. There are many ways to give rest to the experience of digestion, and the one covered here is of a physical nature (though it can also be effective in the subtle realm of digesting). 

The physical digestive system is one that rarely gets a break. Modern humans utilize it consistently, and sometimes misuse or abuse its functions. Not to worry, it’s a resilient, clever system.

One of the most simple ways to aid in the digestive process is to sip hot water throughout the day. Plain, no frills, nothing added, hot water.

Think of it like this: when one needs to clean a dish with something stuck on it, one soaks it in hot water, the stuck material softens, loosens and releases away. Pretty similar in the digestive system. Or consider the typical shower one takes with regularity, applying hot water for cleansing. Same thing, on the inside of the body.

This technique can be used daily for maintenance or situationally, and it offers a gentle bathing of a system that works hard to discern and deliver nourishment. Remember, change occurs when at rest; giving your digestive system a rest allows it an opportunity to reset.

Let me know what questions you have.

Warmly,
Carla

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE BUILD AN EXERCISE PLAN AROUND REST?

​When the development of our body is paramount, as it is in a newborn human, we put a premium on rest. There are sleep schedules, quiet time, etc. Likewise, when the development of our body is paramount due to the recovery of an injury or chemo cycles, or an emergency lifesaving surgery, rest becomes premium, because we know that without rest, development is insecure or even in jeopardy.

As we progress in development of our body, the focus shifts to what we are "doing" to develop. Did you workout today? Did you get your run in? Did you get your steps? How many did you get? A “break” to support development becomes a mechanism to connect one activity to another, versus a point where you reset into your center. The center of that conversation drowns out the inclusion of rest, and quiet time doesn't stand much of a chance.

What makes it difficult to train a body effectively is the same feature that makes the human so compelling and powerfully adaptive - variety. The various expressions of muscle, performance, scar tissue, fascia, bone, collagen, nervous system, balance, focus, awareness, and experience is impressively unique to every human I have had the opportunity to work with. It’s no wonder that finding what works for ‘you’ (a dynamic system) can look like one hell of a game of whack-a-mole. So it makes sense that when we plan to be healthy, we subject ourselves to various strategic plans of “doing”, without any connection to health feedback or understanding that we will maintain a lasting program. Consistency is incredibly its own reward in body training, that whatever it takes to find that nexus is what we aim for in training the bodies we work with.

As we have said from the day EQUIVITA opened, you are always training for something, just what are you training for? That’s the contract with your human development (I think you would know that if I was part of the design, in addition to ‘at rest’ or ‘awake’ there would be a body setting for ‘full party mode, sans consequences”..it’s like a no brainer). You have all these tissues, and all the different expressions of each individual body. How do we rein it in to the individual? When we do an IFR (Initial Fitness Review), we consider rest as a major determining factor of how to begin a training path. It’s a deceptively easy way to create a greater alignment between an individual and a smooth jumping off point to begin fitness training.

One of the cool parts about 2020 is how much we know about the human body. The questions we can entertain are lightyears from what they were when I first became a student of the human body. To that end, it becomes ever more clear that the more you can align your particular choices with your particular body, the more vital and robust your development.

I find that when you shift the center of your fitness training goals with the question, "How much rest do I need in order to train for these goals?", you align with powers that perhaps don’t come through the more traditional development of training goals; as in development around the doing of exercise, development around the losing of weight. I think taking stock of what you can offer yourself, in terms of rest and recovery, reveals more of the individual human body you are working from, so you can have ‘you’ (your needs, your output demands) be at the center of what informs your training plan. The “doing center”, often takes a plan for doing (an example could be the popular Couch to 5K) and subjects the body to outside expectations or limitations.

Many training plans are pragmatic and utilitarian. For a short goal, that’s cool, but that isn’t where I like to place the foundation of how I work with developing a body. I’m interested in answering to the ‘always training’ policy of the body, which layers into your body with greater ease and adherence if it comes from your life factors—and thus it makes sense to me to anchor training closer to where your body currently is in its development.

In the work of body development, value isn’t in dictating exactly what needs to be done, it’s in the ability to empower the owner as they are.

Let’s take the example of the new-mom, which was, for me, the birth of this question, quite necessarily. When Max was born, he was a magical creature…to me, and very much your standard issue baby human. He required lots of feeding. Two obvious elements I had to consider, 1) sleep was not available to me the way it was in any of the years prior to his birth, and 2) my body was working hard to feed him. So the return-to-lifting plan could not possibly begin with the pre-baby exercise schedule or behaviors. Re-entry into activity for my development centered around what was a realistic recovery plan, as well as what was the most prudent support I could offer my body. What was 10-14 mid-heavy lifts a month shifted to 4 lifts a month (starting around 7 months postpartum...NOT 2 WEEKS!).

Strength entered back into my body. Strength to support my son, my work, and my love of heavy lifting. Now, years later, I still plan my exercise behaviors around rest, factors have totally shifted. That baby is 8 years old, he needs rides to places, and at-home schooling, and while his body doesn't depend on mine, his life does. I stay grounded, I try to work largely from a recovered body, and in the end, I feel as strong as I have ever been in my life, and right now, that’s the brand of feedback I live for.

So what happens when you build a movement plan around your ability to rest? Simply, you begin to build a body development program that is balanced, centered, and allows time for the body to repair in order to progress.

Tami

0 Comments

"Overtraining with mental and emotional stress is harder to assess, but there are ways."

9/18/2020

0 Comments

 
Years ago my wife and I were traveling in Puerto Rico and spent some wonderful time with a friend’s parents. One of the things that my friend’s father said struck me at the time and has stayed with me. He said that one of the things he loved about traveling in the States was how safe he felt. How odd, I thought and responded with questions because my experience of people living in the States is that they definitely do not feel safe. 

Since that time I have traveled to many other places and I believe that I have developed a greater understanding of what he was saying, at least in part. In the U.S. we have many rules and structures that are designed with the intent of keeping people safe. We have guardrails to keep us away from a cliff. We have signage to warn of a wet floor. We require walking surfaces to be flat and predictable. These are just a few examples of the many, many ways that our society actively tries to keep people safe. And while we could certainly debate the pros/cons of these (for example, there is research to indicate how our flat predictable surfaces make us weaker and more likely to fall as we get older), there is no doubt that COVID-19 has disrupted our collective sense of safety. 

When we don’t feel safe the body will not easily shift into the parasympathetic nervous system and as a result our brain and body remain running in the fight or flight mode of the sympathetic nervous system. The body, and mind, in this mode are capable of tackling immediate threats and handling tasks, but this is not the ideal mode for major decisions or strategic planning and for the body this is not the time for adaptation. 

Adaptation occurs in the parasympathetic mode. This is when your body can heal, recover, become stronger and better prepared for the next time you are handling stressful events. Like the body, your brain needs the parasympathetic to actually think. Trying to force oneself to make big decisions without first resting and gaining objectivity is, well, I think observable nearly everywhere right now during this pandemic. 

Overtraining by definition is not allowing sufficient rest and recovery for your body to adapt to the exercise demands. This, thankfully, is fairly easy to assess with resting heart rate and body temperature. Overtraining with mental and emotional stress is harder to assess, but there are ways. One of which is to sit and quiet your mind. If you have trouble controlling your mind, you might be overtraining. 

As with exercise for the body, there are many modalities that can help you to get to the place where your brain can experience the much needed rest. And, just like with the body, the benefits come through consistency. So, instead of saying something like “I am too stressed to meditate”, set a structure where you will designate a specific amount of time where you focus on whatever method feels right for you. And, if you don’t have that method, yet, keep looking. Once you can experience the feeling of being in the parasympathetic nervous system mode you will realize that it was worth the effort.

As always, let me know how I can help.
Adam
0 Comments

To Our Community, July 2020

8/4/2020

0 Comments

 
It has been said that to be human is to be adaptable. And, yet, we all seem to find great comfort in the known and in times like these when there is such disruption to norms we can find ourselves in a place that we contract into. Rather than embrace our adaptable selves, we allow the circumstances to place limits on our lives. 

Now, before you jump to some conclusion that I am suggesting you disregard safety, let me say two words: Joseph Pilates. As the story goes, the originator of the exercise program that would be named after him developed his approach with minimal equipment as he was being held in an internment camp in England during the war. 

Many of you reading this might be surprised to hear me use Pilates as a reference - due to my philosophical differences with some of the practice - but I think that it is a wonderful example of how an individual worked within the circumstances he was given. And as this month we are focusing on the Flexibility Key, I could think of no easier Key to integrate into daily practice since it can be done anywhere and even at home. 

There are many ways to stretch and while there are times when resistant muscles will require a more aggressive approach involving massage and/or passive stretching, there can be much to gain by just taking your body through fuller range movements. The simple practice of consistently moving through a full range of motion can be very effective at maintaining range which is why the effort in this Key can really be quite minimal for the benefits. And if you desire greater benefits, like regaining lost range of motion, those gains can be realized through consistent practice of greater effort. 

Perhaps the obvious point is the required consistency. You can make great changes but your body will only adapt as it is required to adapt. Dedicate some time and effort to your flexibility, because it can definitely make a difference in how you move, feel and live.

And, as always, let me know how I can help.
Adam
0 Comments

Flexibility Key: Ideas and considerations from the staff of EQUIVITA

8/4/2020

0 Comments

 
The Stretch Receptors in your Muscles

Within skeletal muscles there are stretch receptors (spindle fibers) which are designed to protect the muscle from getting stretched too far (aka to the point of tearing). Imagine these fibers to be a coil, like a slinky, and as you pull the coil apart the space increases between coils. When this space becomes greater than an expected amount, the signal is sent to shorten the muscle and get it out of this risky position. This signal can be interpreted as pain and/or an urgency to move. Keep in mind that it’s telling the central nervous system that the muscle is at risk of being torn. 

This system seems like a great system for keeping the muscle healthy. However, part of the adaptation that can occur with the body is resetting these coils, or rather the comfortable space between them, closer together. This means that the exact same physical reaction that would protect the muscle from being torn is triggered when the muscle is not even anatomically fully extended. This is the sensation that you may feel when you stretch a muscle statically, meaning you hold a stretched position. 

If your goal with static stretching is to maintain the length of the muscle, then you would go to this point and hold until you feel the sensation ease. That easing of sensation means that the fibers have reset to this position. If you have a goal of increasing flexibility, then at the point where the sensation has eased you would move directly into a greater stretched position. Through this gradual adaptation to stages of length the stretch receptors are “taught” a new normal for space and over time they reset to only fire the warning when stretched too far. 

Static stretching is just one type of stretching and there are more sensors than just spindle fibers, and while the process may vary, the goal of maintaining or increasing range of motion is the same. While you increase the amount of focus that you put on the Flexibility Key of your program, be gentle and pay attention to your body and the feedback that it gives you. 

And, as always, let me know how I can help.
Adam



PASSIVE (Receptive) Chest Stretch

It is likely that at some point in your time at EQUIVITA, whether for fitness, massage or yoga, you’ve been introduced to a passive chest stretch.


We’d like to reintroduce you, and say a little about why it’s so useful.

We live in a world where much of what we interact with is in front of us. It only makes sense that one would gravitate in that direction. Whether engaged in driving, computer use, phone use, watching tv, out running, dining, etc., the orientation is forward. In posture, over time, this tends to bring one into a head forward position, and the tendency to collapse the chest is coupled with rounding the shoulders inward and forward. The human body is pretty clever, and it will do what we repeatedly tell it. Eventually, it begins to hold the posture that is reinforced. 

This anterior dominant posture has myriad effects on a human physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and socially. In the broadest strokes, it closes you off in all of those areas. Take a moment to consider what that might look/feel like for you in those aspects of existence.

Simply put, physically, it affects the neck, spine, chest and upper back most directly. Mentally and emotionally anterior dominant posture can contribute to depression, lack of confidence, and disconnect from clarity. The effect on breathing may play a significant role in this. Spiritually, it closes off the heart, a center of connection and gratitude and love. Socially, this posture demonstrates that the individual is “closed”, and can make make a person feel withdrawn. Obviously, these are again, pretty broad strokes, for the purpose of this article. If you want to learn more, reach out, there’s an immense amount of great information surrounding all of this!

A passive chest stretch is done by lying on your back, knees may be bent or supported by a rolled blanket. The arms go out to the sides with the palms up. Shoulder blades resting on the ground. This should be done for 5-10 minutes; it’s a good idea to set a timer so that you remain resting in the posture for the duration.

A lot of people have resistance to doing this because of its passive nature, thinking they’re not “doing” enough. If you can shift your perspective to one of receptivity, it becomes a very different experience.

Try it, and let us know what questions you have.

Warmly,
Carla

Got your back!   A decompression ‘session’--longer than a stretch...a ‘session’
for unloading/releasing tightness of the low back.


For some of you, a snug low back is part of a long day on my feet, or a short time sitting with a computer. A long time sitting with a computer is next to crippling (I have no endurance for that).

There’s that old adage, you’re only as young as your spine feels, so in the interest of more pliability or less tension in your low back I want to review a few of the ways we could ‘off load’ the tightness in the lower back. While there are many ways to static stretch your back for a 30 count hold, it’s nice to unload the low back for a 10-15 minute respite during your day, in a supported stretch, otherwise called a passive stretch. Here are a few of the options we are fond of to engage a decompression-session for the low back.

That incredible spine of yours is essentially made up of vertebra, stacked together with intervertebral discs which provide cushion and connection(ligament like) between the vertebrae. Then you have a weaving of ligaments and muscles that run the length of your back, and finally bands of fascia, the most substantial of those being the thick band of fascia called the thoracolumbar fascia. To decompress muscle, fascia, ligament, and discs, you essentially need to unload their active role with gravity, posturally help them create space, and influence the return of fluid(either blood or interstitial fluid) to help them reset. The following positions of this passive-style stretch are effective because they address each of those components.

● As a ‘supported’ stretch, your muscles should not be contracting to support the spine up
through gravity.
● Each stretch offers gentle opening/length to the lumbar spine, and thus unloads the
compression and expression of fluid in the intravertebral discs (which is thought to rehydrate when you sleep).
● Each posture stretches your fascia through a soft pull, so when you come out of the stretch the interstitial fluids surges back into the cell matrix and hydrate your fascia, making it more supple.
                     ____________________________________________________________________________

​SELECTED STRETCHES FOR SPINAL DECOMPRESSION
1. Supported Low Back decompression using pillows: lie face down and center one or 2 pillows under your hip crease and rest flat. Your head should be supported on one of both folded arms. It is important to try to relax any tension you may notice in the belly.
​
2. Lying prone over a large exercise ball. You want to ‘turtle’ the body over the ball and roll the ball’s arc up and down the low lumbar. Try to hang the head for this stretch. Due to the pressure of the ball pressing into the abdomen, you may find it feels nice to rest back on your knees for a minute here and there over the duration of this stretch. It’s also important to come out of this stretch nice and slow, resting upright for a moment before trying to stand up.
3. Feet up the wall. This stretch is lovely for those bodies that express low back tightness because of overly tight hamstrings. It is also great because it can easily incorporate the passive chest stretch as well, and then you reap all the benefits highlighted in Carla’s article.
4. Legs resting over the couch stretch. This stretch is great if you have a tighter-tight low back, it is also very gentle to the lumbar spine, and allows the psoas to remain soft.
​

The last point I would like to address with this type of stretch is the nervous system. To give any of the above stretches optimal opportunity, take the 10-15 minutes of  decompression for your mind. Rest it. Listen to soothing music, perhaps a nature sounds track, tune into a breath practice, but absolutely axe your mobile phone from this time. I also recommend the use of a timer to ensure the full duration of time is devoted to this practice...as Carla reminds us, it’s ‘passive’ and that can make it easier for our active selves to run away!

The above stretches represent some of the more gentle ways to decompress the low back. Set up can vary based on your accessibility. I hope one of the options can help support your spine unload for a spell. Modifications and contraindications are always a foot, so if you have any concerns as to whether you are a good candidate for one of the stretches please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns.

In good health,
Tami
twise@equivita.com

Dynamic Stretching

I remember when I was little I was always so flexible and agile. Partly because I was always on the move (getting yelled at if I came inside), and also because I was in gymnastics for a few years. I loved flips, back bends, splits, tumbling… all the fun things my body could do as a child that now I’d have to go real slow at attempting and probably just end up on my back anyway. As an adult, I’m still fairly active, but I miss the flexibility I used to have. The struggle has been real trying to regain it, and I’ve found myself getting frustrated. Why can’t I just do it like I used to?! 

I tried static stretching after workouts once my muscles were warm and loosened up, but that only seem to help me avoid being tight afterwards, not necessarily increasing my flexibility. I got a bit more effectiveness out of passive stretching, but still not to the degree that I desired. Once I started taking some yoga classes regularly last year I began to notice even more results. So I started googling to find “yoga stretches” to do, which I don’t even know if that’s a thing, but it was worth a try. A video about dynamic stretching popped up that claimed to increase flexibility. I was skeptical and cautious of such promises — especially since I’d never even heard of “dynamic stretching” before — but decided to give it a shot. 

By the end of the 30 minute video I was sweating, like I’d gotten a decent workout in, and my muscles and tendons felt great. Now I was getting somewhere! That was about three months ago, and with combining the dynamic stretch with a static stretch (and a dedicated daily yoga practice), I’ve actually noticed a difference and made progress.

So... what is it?

When doing a dynamic stretch, you are contracting the opposite muscle/muscle group in order to force a full extension of the stretching muscle. This is done in reps, much like other exercises. Plus, you’re physically moving your body, and your mind has to concentrate to isolate and control, so to me it felt like I was actually “doing something”. Dynamic stretching can be done even on cold muscles which makes them a great way to warm up prior to a regular workout routine.

For example, my hamstrings and calf muscles are the muscle groups that are the tightest for me. I’ll get into a sort of lunge position and by moving slowly back and forth, flexing to get a full extension in my leg, for 10 reps. Then I lengthen into a comfortable position and flex my foot back and forth for 10 reps. Afterwards I hold a full extension in a static stretch for 15 seconds.
The “why” behind the increase in flexibility with this method is still trying to be understood by science. There are a lot of studies that show many benefits of adding dynamic stretching to an exercise routine, but not yet on what is actually going on internally to cause these effects.

For me, the proof is in the pudding as they say. Perhaps it doesn’t really matter why, just that I feel it’s working.

All the best,
Katherine
0 Comments

Cardio Key: Ideas and Considerations from the EQUIVITA Staff:  June 2020

7/8/2020

1 Comment

 
F.I.T.T.

Cardiorespiratory exercise is good for you because your body is designed for movement. The amount of movement, the level of effort and how often you move are the details that make the simple statement a lot less clear. 

Since the ‘90s our Surgeon Generals have been producing parameters on the dosage of cardio exercise that we should be getting and those guidelines have continued to change. One could assume that those changing recommendations are due to an increase in our data and understanding of the research, but even in 1996 it was clear that 30 cumulative minutes most days of the week was the bare minimum for any health benefit. Which means that it was the minimum amount that could be done to realize a decreased possibility of disease. Note that this is not about improving your health, it is about “staving off disease”.

For health improvements, the recommendations increase and that is also seen in the set guidelines from subsequent Surgeon Generals. These guidelines illustrate that there is a dose-response relationship and that your body will adapt to the demands you ask of it. Great, but also, to be clear, it will adapt only to the demands you ask of it. 
 
Exercise recommendations for the dose of cardio depend on the goals that you want to achieve and are categorized by Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type (F.I.T.T.). By determining the adaptations you want your body to make, you can then determine the demands you will be placing on your body through these categories. 

For instance, I believe that your body should move every day for a minimum of 20 minutes at a sustained low intensity: F = daily; I = low; T = 20 minutes; T = walking.

If we were planning a goal to start a program toward decreasing body fat, then you would need to add to that minimum by increasing some intensity and duration: F = daily (3 + 4); I= 3 low + 4 moderate-high; T= 3 @ 20 minutes + 4 @ 30 minutes; T = 3 walking + 2 biking + 2 running.

This structuring provides a foundation for programming and is all dependent on the individual and that is in part why the industry, and Surgeon General’s, recommendations change. Your body needs to be challenged with intensity to adapt to intensity, but that message can too often have a negative response where people feel that it just isn’t worth doing anything. 

But that is a complete misuse of all the exercise knowledge that we have because that knowledge is limited to the metrics we know how to assess. There is no substitute for movement. Your body needs to move. You know how much better you feel when you move. So, regardless of the goal-oriented programs that we may develop and work on at different times to achieve specific goals, keep moving. 

And, as always, let me know how I can help.
Adam

-------------------------------------------------------->

A POP TO THE STEADY STATE


Tami and Carla here!

We were talking about ways that we enhance our cardio experience, and decided to share some of our tips with you this month as we turn our focus to the Cardio Key. Adding a little flavor to a habit can help us stick with it, and here are some ways we can do that for ourselves...

When we do cardio as a habit, there are ways we can bolster the experience that sometimes feels monotonous. One of the ways I do that is through music. I really enjoy pop music during cardio.

The list grows every time I hear something that feels like a fit or someone suggests a song, and that keeps it fresh.

I’m going to hit shuffle on the playlist and give you a few selections from my “Pop Cardio” playlist: (Fair warning, likely some explicit content)

Electricity - Silk City
Paper Rings - Taylor Swift
Lights - Ellie Goulding
Good as Hell - Lizzo
Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels - Todrick Hall
2U - David Guetta
Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
What’s Up Danger - Blackway
Time - Alesso
A Million Dreams - Pink

In addition to the very powerful support of a well curated audio selection, I have given myself the freedom to ‘cardio like nobody is watching!’(because it’s true) Essentially what I am saying is I play around with your very important, but sometimes low-luster cardio practice.

It’s easy to throw some common-core foot work drills in a walk or jog session(sometimes called agility...but YOU call the pace). For the foot-in-place cardio (bike, EFX or rowing), well there’s a chance to sing, dance, sing and dance.

Dramatic song expression while your feet are secured to a piece of exercise equipment can
provide one heck of a pick-me-up.

Lastly you can go the way of the Sweeds and go for a Fartlek session. Roughly translated,
Fartlek means 'speed play'. Varying the ‘speed’--fast pace, or a more measuerd pace--and ‘play’ string together random segments, longer or shorter, more incline, less incline, more resistance less resistance till you complete your cardio session. I think Fartlek training host one of my favorite exercise continuum’s where you find performance on one end and play on the other.

Let’s hit shuffle on the idea list “cardio like nobody’s watching.”

Foot work diversions (drills):
High Knees: swing your arms and concentrate on the height of the knees.
Going Backwards: forwards, but playfully, and in reverse.
Butt Kicks: It’s an idea more than an actual directive.
The Grapevine: a fun side-step where you cross one step in front of the other and then switch.
Side to Side: foot to foot, back and forth
​ 
Not only is this not boring, it takes your body through more planes of movement, and all of this takes the soul to JOY!
​
Now we have to get back to our cardio and our community sing along: WE ARE THE
CHAMPIONS, by Queen, Join us at the top of your lungs!

Warmly,
Carla and Tami
1 Comment

To our Community: June 2020

7/8/2020

0 Comments

 
For these past many weeks as I have been wearing a mask while I work. I had started to question whether the mask was making a difference with breathing and specifically the oxygen level that my body was getting. So, I began testing with a pulse oximeter. And then I went online and found Google presenting me with all sorts of ideas related to masks and breathing issues, with those using it as reason to not wear a mask and the opposition stating it was a myth. Whew! Is there nothing that isn’t an “us and them” issue?

Aside from the current ideas, there is actually some research from 2008 which looked at Oxygen saturation in surgeon’s blood and found a decrease, as well as an increase in heart rate, but only after extended time. The researchers did say that other variables, intense focus during surgery and/or psychological impact of wearing a mask, could be the cause and not the breathing restrictions of the mask itself.

Which is pretty much how science research works, even though there is certainly not much of that in our media nor public mindset. People are different and the variables are too great to simplify into defitnitives. Context matters and I really look forward to a time when we as a people can realize that and start from a place of trying to understand instead of finding fault. 

Along these same lines, the Cardio Key focus of this newsletter isn’t about the specific science based numbers of cardiorespiratory exercise. It is about the understanding that there are great benefits to be derived from movement. Numbers are a way to quantify, but they aren’t the goal. 

Sometimes placing too much focus on that which can be measured will distract away from the true benefit. The goals of feeling and connection are real even if they can’t be objectively measured. Science can provide us with many great understandings, but as we have seen over these recent months it is very limited. In many ways, common sense and compassion can take us much further.

And, as always, let me know how I can help.
Adam
0 Comments

Resistance Key: Ideas and Considerations from the EQUIVITA staff May 2020

6/8/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture

Ayurvedic Seasonal Influence and Resistance Work
In the world of Ayurveda, the understanding is that the seasons have an influence on us that we do well to work with/respond to in some form of harmony. We see this in intuitive lifestyle ways, getting hygge and eating soups and stews in the winter, being outdoors and playful picnicking with salads and fruits in the summer. 

We can also respond to seasonal changes through our exercise, harnessing an aspect of our lifestyle in a way that helps us feel in the flow. 

In the spring, the primary (or loudest) elements in nature are water and earth. That combination gives us lush plants and juiciness in the body; it can also create mud. These elements, when balanced, provide us with cohesiveness and stability. And along the lines of mud, these elemental influences can also tend to get us a little bogged down. So, how do we communicate with these elements within ourselves to help keep dynamic balance? 

In the realm of resistance training, that might look like building a little extra heat, warming up a little longer. It might be more repetition, whether within a set of exercises or the number of sets themselves. Possibly adding some pulsing in your movements, to disrupt stagnation or congestion. It might be a booty shaking dance break between exercises. (<—- I’m a fan of this one) 

This is a small window into our empowered options in our resistance work, and there are lots of other practices (yoga, pranayama, nutritional choices) that can support us in the different seasons. If you’d like to know more, let us know, and of course let us know what questions you have!

Warmly,
Carla ​

Reconditioning Required: moving rubber CAN make you stronger!
​


​So maybe I was a little resistant to resistance bands. I’ve been lifting for over half of my life. This girl learned she could lift heavy free weights back in the late 90’s, and she still loves to lift heavy weights. I feel strong -- in part because I move big weights. Being separated from free weights, while I would not choose this, I enjoy the environment of adaptation, so I took a tour through a host of home training tools. On this tour, resistance bands seemed to dominate in the world of the home workout gear of choice. Huh...Is that really tough? Can you really drive your muscles to adapt to more strength moving RUBBER?!

Now even the sturdiest of us, every now and then, wind up in ‘required reconditioning’ (perhaps from trying to impersonate David Lee Roth, or Gabby Douglas, or Wonder Woman). It was in times of injury, and small muscle stability work (think shoulder external rotation) that I relate to resistance bands. A therapy tool, a stretch buddy, or better awareness (or ability to isolate) of the small boring muscles that support the stability of something bigger and cooler—that’s the rap I gave ‘resistance bands'. I did not categorize resistance bands as a way to put on much muscle, but rather as a way to keep my muscles...well groomed.

Reconditioning required.

To build modest to beastly-light muscle power you need to demand (overload) more of your muscles than your muscles are used to so that the body will adapt to your demands. To review: the realization made by me, was that resistance bands were a solid option to the goal of BUILDING muscle, not to rehab it or stretch it, but BUILD IT.

Whether a free weight, body weight, or elastic tension, you have to have the same components to build muscle: resistance and overload (create tension on your muscles they are not use to), recovery, and progressive challenge to the strength adaptations of your body. So we can stress the muscle using resistance with gravity, an added weight (free weights or machines) or elastic tension. Sufficiently overloaded muscles will adapt over time, so they can manage the added stress. Bam! You just got stronger!

Free weights use loads and gravity to provide tension. Free weights are SWEET and you have to obey the laws of gravity...what a downer (😬🙄). Body weight work follows similar rules. The force will always be downward, so you have to position your body in a way that allows you to target your muscles correctly.

With resistance bands, the force is caused by elastic tension—the more you stretch the band, the more tension is created. This means you can target your muscles from any direction. FREEDOM!!!💥🦸 ♀ 💥 The freedom of position of the body helps the individual isolate a muscle group much easier than always having to be beholden to the downward force of gravity. Finally, resistance bands match our muscles natural strength curve, in that the strength of the band varies with range (more stretch = more resistance).

Most muscles increase in strength up to a certain point during a movement, after which they become weaker. When you use free weights you are limited in that you can only use a weight which your muscles are capable of moving in their weakest position--usually at the beginning of the movement. This means that when they are in their strongest position, they are not receiving an adequate level of resistance.

With elastics, the movement is easy at the beginning and progressively becomes more difficult. You get the highest level of resistance exactly where you need it most – the point at which the muscles are in their strongest position.

Where to start?

There are essentially 4 types of bands:
● Tube bands (we have those at EQUIVITA), then in that group ‘braided tube' -- the very popular TRX system is in that classification I believe.
● Flat loop bands
● Flat bands (like Thera band that the PT’s provide for stretching)
● Superbands (we have these at EQUIVITA), are big loop bands that are thick layered
latex.

If you have questions or epiphanies please email me at twise@equivita.com

In good health,
Tami

0 Comments

Determine the goal. Design the plan

6/8/2020

0 Comments

 
I credit Neil Degrasse Tyson for this fabulous statement, "An approximation of a deeper truth". It took me so many years in the industry to understand the importance of this tool. And the perspective that for much of the time, the short story is enough. 

As an example, one day I was in a gym and one of the gym’s personal trainers was working with a couple of clients close to where I was lifting. One of the clients asked the trainer why he was instructing them to turn the palm up when doing bicep curls with dumbbells. The trainer responded by saying that is how you can get a fuller contraction of the bicep. And that was enough for the client. Now, this might not seem a shocker to you but it certainly made me think about the way that I would answer the question. The bicep muscle’s primary job is supination of the forearm (turning the palm up and out, so the pinky finger is closest to the shoulder), not bending of the elbow. Actually, for the greatest contraction of the bicep, you would want to put the shoulder into a flexed position while you bend the elbow and supinate the forearm. You cannot effectively do this with dumbbells because the pull of gravity would then be more through the elbow joint….and somewhere, probably before this point, is where the client just stopped listening.

The point to this is not about the bicep nor about how much I continually have to learn. Rather, the point is that relevance matters more than fact. For instance, it is a fact that your muscles need a day of rest after lifting. But that rest is only to ensure the muscle will rebuild from an intense enough exercise that caused damage to the muscle. If, however, you are doing exercise for the purpose of correcting postural imbalances, retraining biomechanics or even just mitigating muscle loss then taking the day of rest could actually work against your goals. 

From rehab to function to performance, the specifics of how you train the muscle depends on the goals that you are trying to achieve. Amount of resistance, type of resistance, speed of repetition, number of reps, length of rest, number of sets and frequency of exercise bouts are all considerations relative to your program. And all of these fall lower in priority than how you move your body to perform the exercise. To simplify, your goal is to activate the muscle with the appropriate dose to stimulate the desired response. Without focus on ensuring you are using the muscles that you are trying to get the response from, then your muscles will not be stimulated to give you the response you want. 

For the biceps, this means that just rotating your hand while lifting will not give you the greatest contraction of the bicep. You actually have to focus on contracting the bicep to make that movement in the right position for that response. But, if you never knew that there was a deeper truth or in this case something that would be more effective, you might never think to ask more and go deeper.  

While I know that not everyone has the fascination with the body that I have, I do believe that a greater understanding can enable people to be far more effective with the results they can achieve with their body.  

Determine the goal. Design the plan. Focus on form. And, as alway, let me know how I can help.

Adam
0 Comments

Flexibility Key:  Ideas and considerations from the EQUIVITA Staff, April 2020

5/7/2020

0 Comments

 
Flexibility through yoga, more than being bendy

It seems that flexibility has ended up being the perfect Key for this month. More than perhaps ever before we are being asked to exist flexibly. To be flexible with ourselves and our responses and reactions to the times. To be flexible with others as they, too, navigate territory that feels uncharted.

In a yoga practice, much of what we do on a mat in class or at home is meant to influence our interactions with what happens off that mat outside of our practice. 

Yes, sometimes you see yogis doing neat, bendy things with their bodies. That piece is the tip of the iceberg. Manipulating and moving the body can have far reaching effects, well beyond whether or not you can touch your toes (You can, just bend your knees. See? Flexible.) The truth of the matter is that all the postures and movement are preparation for sitting in meditation. Let’s simplify that; all the practices help us be present with witnessing what is. That’s it. When we have moments of being present with what is, our systems remember. Whether in discomfort of a pose held for longer than we’d like, or a meditation that makes our mind go into monkey chatter, these are the edges where we purposefully practice experiencing presence. We enhance our flexibility by being able to choose our response. 

The trick comes along when we realize it’s like fitness and other life-enhancing endeavors. Gaining flexibility (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and socially) requires commitment, curiosity and a comprehensive approach. The good news is that it needn’t be arduous. As you may have heard us suggest in others of the Five Keys, it’s often a good idea to start with one or two things to try, and stay with it for a couple weeks before assessing what’s next. 

Here is a suggestion (no contraindications): This will take 5 minutes.

Turn on some music you like, doesn’t matter what. You just have to like it.

Sit comfortably in neutral posture. Inhale tip the pelvis forward, exhale tip it back. Do this for 1 minute.

Sit for 3 minutes and breathe into the belly, ribs and chest. Keep it mellow, belly relaxed, no need to strain on inhale or exhale.

Notice how you feel, use your senses. The answer doesn’t matter. The point is that you sit and feel. 

Then do it everyday for 2 weeks. Let me know what questions you have!

Warmly,
Carla

Flexibility and Massage
​

What happens when we don't exercise, we don't move around very much in our daily lives, we get stuck at a desk for multiple hours a day for work, we drive long distances, or we simply just don't move very much at all? Have you ever gotten up from sitting for a bit, and felt stiff, or like you just need to walk around for a minute so everything starts 'moving right'? I certainly have!!  

When we move around regularly, exercise and stretch, we can do a few things for our bodies:
  • One, we create blood flow to our muscles-always a good thing as they need blood flow to work for us!
  • Two, we give our body a stimulus of 'work' so it has to do what we are telling it to do.
  • Three, especially when we stretch, we are affecting our flexibility.


Essentially, the more regularly we move and stretch, the better our flexibility can be. Now, when you add in massage therapy, you get another layer of help with flexibility. Massage is the manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. How does this help flexibility? Glad you asked! When we get a massage, we are affecting the muscles and how they work. When we apply massage, it helps us bring new blood flow into the muscles and flush out old waste that may have settled there. As I mentioned before, when we bring in blood flow, it helps us move better. With massage, we can help the muscles work better by bringing in the new blood flow and essentially, helping the muscles get longer. When the muscles are longer and able to work better, our flexibility can be better. I typically have tight quad muscles, and so when I get massages, though it can be a little painful, I like to have my quads worked on, so that my knees don't feel as tight and so that my hips can be a little more loose as well. My calves are also usually tight, so that is another area that I like to have worked on, and I feel like my feet move better, and my ankles are more mobile when I get my calves worked on during a massage. For me, I feel like my flexibility all over my body can be affected by massage, in a good way. Do you ever roll your head and neck around in circles and shake it side to side if it is feeling tight? This is a small example of self massage, and it can help! Do you notice that your neck feels better after you do this? It's likely that you have just increased your flexibility. Easy, right?! 

While we aren't able to get massages right now, there are plenty of self massage things you can do at home to help with your flexibility during this time. This link will give you some great ideas and if a foam roller isn't available to you, use the tennis ball in that space. 

11 Seriously Wonderful Self-Massage Tips That Will Make You Feel Amazing

-Cheryl


Groove with Mr. Smoov

Picture
Giving some attention to your walking posture can ensure that you are staying energized and pliable as a result of your walk!  
We are going to call this character Mr. Smoov. Oh, he’s high-tech alright. Mr. Smoov is not based on an actual person, he’s a lovely perfectly-aligned walking gait...simulation. It allows us to see the integration of the skeletal system as it moves under your muscle and skin, and I hope it helps to visualize some key things that you want to consider with all that walking you are able to do. Head to heel, here’s a short checklist of checkins to help you walk strong, agile and smoov for THE AGES!

​● Mr. Smoov is looking out to the horizon

● Mr. Smoov keeps his spine tall
● Mr. Smoov allows both his arms to swing freely at his sides
● Mr. Smoov’s pelvis is gently rotating back and forth
● Mr. Smoov uses a nice, full, heel-to-toe stride

When your bones and your muscles and your joints are hosting good biomechanics on your walk, then this whole body exercise should not fatigue your neck or back, wear into your hips/knees/feet, or drain your muscles of energy(or tighten them down, a lot).

Mr. Smoov is looking out to the horizon
Looking out to the horizon is one of the fastest ways I can think of to gently lengthen your
gait(which is often needed to smoov the gait) and gift you better balance. Stand tall, and keep your ears over your shoulders, looking about 20 feet in front of you.

Mr. Smoov keeps his spine tall
Elongate your spine and pull your waist in to support the lift of that tall posture. No one said anything about slouching...because that would never be necessary, nope.

Mr. Smoov allows both his arms to swing freely at his sides
Shoulders and arms play a key role in good smooth walking. You want your shoulders to be
loose and relaxed to assist with a clean swing of the arm, and to keep tension patterns around the neck and upper back out of your groove. A simple hard shrug of the shoulders, combined with a full inhale, and then a big forceful drop of the shoulders can be a nice reset for the sneaky shrug. Dropping down, notice as the arms swing freely at your sides- not cross body, and notice if you swing one arm at a much greater range than the other. The arms swinging side to side, help to keep us balanced and keep force generated from the twist of walking, from jamming into our spine.

Mr. Smoov’s pelvis is gently rotating back and forth
MIDSECTIONS! That gentle rotation gets more intense with a faster gait. Here again, pull the midsections in snug (40% of your power?? perhaps), to support(relieve) the low back and
maintain robust stability.

Mr. Smoov uses a nice, full, heel-to-toe stride
Smoov strikes the ground with his heel, and rolls through his foot to finish his step pushing out of the toe (USA 10, China 10, Russia 10, Korea 10, Jamaica 10--I believe that’s a sweep Mr. Smoov 10). Taking full steps and not short-stride-posting, or shuffles ensure that each stride keeps the joints lubricated, the fascia hydrated and the muscles working.

Look up, don’t slouch and stride. Walking circulates the blood, fills the lungs, clears the mind juices, the fascia and the joints, resets, revives!!! Walking is an essential human movement, so let’s make it hum, generate robust flow, and make it groove!

Be well, stay smoov~
Tami

Please feel free to email me your gait questions or any concerns you may have about your
walking gait, at twise@equivita.com.
0 Comments

Flexibility, a very different focus~

4/29/2020

0 Comments

 
This month is Flexibility, and what a perfect thing to focus on while you are at home unable to get in your usual workout.  

Along those lines, I know that many of you have been meeting regularly with Carla and Tami to participate in the live online classes, and even more have taken advantage of their recorded exercise sessions. I want to give a big thanks to both Carla and Tami for using their time to keep us connected and exercising!

When it comes to flexibility, there are many types of stretching and flexibility training programs, and while certainly not all of them are right for everyone, the great thing about them is that, with control and attention, you have a much less risk of injury than you might with some resistance or cardio exercise.

It's interesting to take a moment and see how this might be generalized to current times. So many of us habitually conduct our lives in a way that we push and push, going fast and rarely taking time to rest. That is where the Rest Key becomes important to center on for many of us during our "normal lifestyle". But, flexibility -- with the concentration on maintaining or even increasing our range -- is a very different focus. While there is overlap with all of the Keys, the idea that, instead of just wasting your time waiting until life gets back to normal, you would take this phase when you cannot keep that same fast-paced lifestyle and devote your attention in the direction that you want. 

Whether it is physically adapting your body to increase range of motion, or mentally focusing on what you really want, this isolation period is a perfect time for crafting and creating. We all know that it won't last and life will get back to some new normal. Have you considered, when that happens, what you want it to be like? 

I am sure that there are things you miss and want to get back as soon as possible. But are there other things that you aren't excited to return? Maybe through this pandemic we can learn that there are many choices. Perhaps taking a forced step-back is just the right time to imagine the opportunities, and to change those things that we otherwise resigned ourselves to accepting. 

If, upon reflection, you have nothing that you wish was different, then just like with flexibility focus on maintaining. But, if you do have desires to increase your reach, now seems like the perfect time to devote some thought towards how you can make that happen. 

And, as always, let me know how I can help.

-Adam
0 Comments
<<Previous
Forward>>

    EQUIVITA

    This blog is written and updated by the staff that support EQUIVITA. Individual blog posts are the thoughts of the staff member that submitted the post.  The content of these posts often support the thoughts and ideas of our organization, but do not always(and we scarcely use definitives) reflect the same thoughts or ideas of the organization as a whole.

    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    1RM
    ACSM
    Ailments
    Alignment
    Anti-inflammatory
    Back Spasm
    Barefoot Training
    Biomechanics
    Body Building
    Deep Core Training
    Deep Front Line
    Diaphragm
    Dumbbell
    Exercise Recommendations
    Fat Loss
    Fitness
    Health
    Hypertrophy
    Image
    Inner Core Training
    Intrinsic Foot Muscles
    Kettlebell
    Massage
    Muscle Spasm
    Pain
    Program Repetition
    Protein
    Resistance Bands
    Short Foot Exercises
    Stabilizer Muscles
    Strength Training Plan
    Throw Out Back
    Trigger Point

    RSS Feed

15o8 Hess St.,
​Columbus, OH 43212
​614.298.8781
Copyright ­© 2015 Body By Me.
​All Rights Reserved.


Sign In/Register


EQUIVITA is proud to serve our community for over 18 years.

Picture