Since today is July 2nd I want to wish a belated Happy Canada Day to my Canadian readers as well as a Happy 4th of July weekend to my American friends.  Since the holiday is upon us I thought I’d just share a couple quick things from this week.

1.  About a week ago Mike Reinold wrote an interesting post about using the cobra yoga pose to reverse the effects of common postural issues.

He even created this little chart to demonstrate the application and usefulness.

While the majority of the comments revolved around the effects of this pose on the lower back (which may be forced into hyperextension if the hip flexors are excessively tight), I was also thinking about the ankles.  Despite the fact that our ankles tend to be dorsiflexed to some degree while seated, I would argue that tight/short muscles on the front side of the lower limb aren’t really that common compared to the calves.  Since most people tend to sleep with their feet slightly plantar flexed and often our feet are pointed when sitting in other positions, perhaps extending the ankles to relieve the effects of posture at the ankle joint isn’t warranted.

2.  My friend Aaron Schwenzfeier posted the following video on his blog this week and I couldn’t help but hope that my daugther will be more inspired by women like Emily Azevedo (bobsledding athlete) than some of the anorexic media driven nonsense that exists today.  Only once strong, fit, and confident women become the norm in the media will young girls be able to grow up without the expectation to be unhealthy and wafer thin.

3.  And finally, if the above video didn’t leave you impressed, please view the following video posted by my friend Sam Leahey.  This is the newest and best way to develop your body into a fat burning machine.  Enjoy!

For me, many great things (and sometimes bad things) come in 3′s.  Today I figured I’d share some of these with you.

3 Things I’m Reading

Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitation – Dr Stuart McGill

I originally read this a long time ago, but after a recent discussion with Dr McGill I decided to pull it out and give it another read.  I’m blowing through it this time and am enjoying the refresher.  It is also helping to reaffirm some of my thoughts on training and challenge others.

I guess the take home message is that if you have a great book you haven’t referred to in a while, don’t be afraid to give it a read through again.  You’ll be surprized at what you may have missed the first time.  It is kinda like watching Fight Club the second time around.

So You’re Going to be a Dad – Peter Downey

Since I’ll becoming a proud father for the first time in about 8 weeks I figured I should brush up a little more on what to expect.  This book is a little basic and we’ve covered almost everything in there in our prenatal classes already.  I guess I know everything I’ll ever need to know about child rearing.  Whew…that was easy. 

The Myth of Core Stability – Eyal Lederman

This article was recommended to me by Aaron Schwenzfeier so I plan to give it a good read this week and report back.  I’m not sure I’m totally buying what Lederman is selling after my first read through, but it certainly provides an opportunity to challenge our current interpretation of core stability.

If you want to dig it out for yourself here’s the reference:

Lederman, E. The myth of core stability. Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies (2009).
doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2009.08.001.

3 People That Should Not Be Giving Weight Loss & Fitness Advice

Oprah - I’m going to go on the record and say that I really love Oprah.  I even enjoy her show sometimes despite the fact that it sucks all of the testosterone right out of my body.  But how is it that the queen of yo-yo dieting is responsible for identifying the next mass market nutrition gurus?

Jillian Michaels – I know that she has come under a lot of fire so I’m probably just echoing the sentiment of many of those in the fitness industry, but obviously this message isn’t reaching the masses.  The ratings for this show remain strong and people are still watching it.  I can’t for the life of me figure out why.

Tracy Anderson - Any “fitness expert” who states that women should not lift more than 3 pound weights deserves a dropkick.  Thanks for helping to propagate myths Tracy.  You’re doing health and wellness a real service.

3 Web Things from This Week

- DaveDraper.com

I’ve actually spent a fair amount of time here this past week and really enjoyed the content.  I especially enjoy the blog which appears to be maintained by Laree Draper so props to her for putting together the great stuff.

- Six Things You Need to Know About Protein

Chris Shugart interviews Dr Lonnie Lowery about protein.  This is some pretty good stuff.  From cooking protein to the amount of protein per meal he covers a lot of cool material.

- Bodyworlds.com

I went to see this a couple years ago and I’ll be doing so again this month.  I am so pumped!  If you’ve never had the opportunity to do cadaver work, this is a great way to see the human body.  Heck, even if you’ve done it I’d still recommend this exhibit.

- Honorable mention goes to Twitter.com/shitmydadsays

This is NOT for those who can’t handle several inappropriately placed curse words.  However, it is otherwise quite amusing and possibly innapropriate for me to post on this blog.  Still, it makes me laugh and it is my blog so I can do pretty much whatever I want.

3 Words That Will Make You Strong

- Combat Core Strength

Remember those words, because this book by Jim Smith is SICK!  Sorry Jim, but I’ve already punked a bunch of your exercises and am using them in my programs.  Get this ebook!

3 Things That Are Just Plain Funny

- Mentos

- Diet Coke

- My Brother in Law

What are 3 things that are on your mind this week?  Leave a comment and let me know.

As many of you may know, I believe that reading for an hour per day is paramount if you hope to become a leader in any field.  Fitness and nutrition are no different.  Here are a few things to get you started for today.

The Real Biggest Losers…the viewers

This is a great post by strength coach Robert dos Remedios.  I won’t steal his thunder by talking about the post.  Just give it a read.  If you have a blog or even a Facebook account please share this.

Running

My guess is that my colleague Aaron Schwenzfeier gave this post a simple title because he feels bad that nobody can spell his name without a dictionary.  I honestly just cut and paste it from his blog whenever I have to write it.

Nonetheless, Aaron examines the strong divide between the endurance training community and the lifting community and presents some reasons why maybe…just maybe…there may be a reason for lifters to run as well.

The Shake Weight

Okay…so you probably won’t learn anything from the following video.  In fact, it will probably suck the brain cells right from your head, but it is Friday and who needs brain cells on the weekend?

As many of you may know, I believe that reading for an hour per day is paramount if you hope to become a leader in any field.  Fitness and nutrition are no different.  Here are a few things to get you started for today.

1.  We know to program in HTML, Java and Windows, but we don’t know how to cook or eat.

Last week I was reading my colleague Aaron Schwenzfeier’s blog and saw this link to an article he posted.  Since Aaron always posts really thought provoking stuff I decided to check it out and I’m glad I did.  Check out this great essay by Frank Forencich HERE. 

 2.  You think you’re doing Tabata workouts, but you’re not.

Lyle McDonald does an incredible job reviewing the ever popular Tabata study that was the initial stimulus for all of the “Tabata” based workouts that you see all over the internet.  If you’re using this type of training you need to read this article.  Interestingly, what you’re probably doing looks nothing like what was actually studied in the first place.  Check out Lyle’s post HERE.

This is just a short update today, but I wanted to let you know about this really cool blog I stumbled across a little while ago.  Aaron (who is a Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of North Dakota) has some really great content and I like that he’s not afraid to go against the grain and question concepts that others have accepted as fact.

Here are a couple of his posts that will either educate you or royally piss you off.  Either way, they’re both worth reading.

Not a Stability Issue

Overhead Pressing

Have fun!