So many people underestimate just how much getting strong is a mental challenge. They certainly underestimate how you head affects your results.
Or, when they do recognize it, as some strength coaches claim too, they simply latch on to the most convenient dogmatic views and think that it is all about “motivation”. Which, quite frankly, when repeated over and over becomes just a word at best, and simple noise at worst.
When I started writing the Getting in the Zone series my blog at GUS, I didn’t know exactly how I would approach it. Now, five posts and five associated articles later, it’s still not finished but I finally feel that I have it to a point where readers can really do something with it. I also think, in all, it’s the most useful work I’ve ever done.
So far, I am practicing a bit of amateur psychology. But let me point out that all psychology is amateur psychology. Because for any person to claim that they are an “expert” on the human mind…well that would be hubris.
Suffice it to say I am not qualified in psychology, despite a lot of knowledge. But I AM qualified when it comes to getting the mind in a good place for the best performance. What that ultimately means is getting the self in a good place. Mind and body. This is called being in the “zone”. Or, as I prefer to say being in “flow” or “flowing”.
From the first post:
During athletic events you’ve probably heard people say things like “he’s in the zone”. That is when an athlete is completely centered and everything seems focused and effortless. Many times there is a sense of quietness and calmness about them even though they are in the midst of a highly charged situation.
You know what I’m talking about, probably, and when you are at the gym trying to get that big PR, feeling all anxious about it, you’ve probably wondered how to get in that ZONE and if it’s possible to learn.
The purpose of all the posts and articles is therefore to help you achieve that. However, I believe that each individual entry is useful in it’s own right. I hope it helps you succeed in your lifting, or whatever you hope to achieve:
Joe Weir has started a grip strength training tip sheet at TipDrop.com…a subject that is near and dear to his heart. Grip strength I mean. There is also a little help from me.
Joe Weir has started a tip sheet over at TipDrop on grip training…a subject that is near and dear to his heart. There is also a little help from yours truly.
Diverticulosis is the presence in the large intestine (colon) of small saccular outpouchings, termed diverticula. Diverticulitis refers to inflammation and infection of diverticula.
Here is a complete overview on diverticulitis by Dr. Amanda Peppercorn covering definitions of the condition, causes, and treatment.
The plantar fascia is a dense fibrous tissue lining the bottom of the foot.
The plantar fascia provides support when the foot rises up on the toes during walking, running, or climbing. It supports the long arch of the foot. Plantar fasciitis is caused by strain of the plantar fascia. The injured tissue causes pain at the bottom of the foot when starting to walk or when standing still for a long period of time.
It is one of the most common causes of foot pain in adults.
Read on and find out more about the symptoms, causes, diagnoses and treatment of this pain foot pain condition. This excellent overview of plantar fasciitis is brought to us by Prof. Robert Sheon.
Dietary supplements containing silver are a dime a dozen and are frequently presented as a cure-all for anything from acne to a case of the Martian pox. These are such products as:
colloidal silver
ionic silver
native silver
silver alginate
silver protein
mild silver protein
colloidal silver protein
true silver protein
Most products tend to be an “ionic silver solution” which is silver in a solution rather than suspended silver.
I’ve updated/improved the Fish Oil Quality article to include more in-depth discussion of the term “pharmaceutical grade”. This goes way beyond fish oil to arm against this very misleading marketing practice. As I point out in the article, the fish oil industry are the main culprits but many vitamin manufactures are joining the fray, claiming that their B vitamin, for instance is “pharmaceutical grade” which means it is 99% pure or some other claim.
You can find out what their claims of “pharmaceitical grade” are referring to in the article, if they are referring to anything…plus a whole lot more about fish oil. The take home message for “pharmaceutcal grade” is that it is much like the term “natural”: anyone can put it on their label. It’s a largely meaningless term.
Not only is their no real meaning to the term there is no standard purity for pharmaceutical ingredients. Pharmaceutical ingredients are manufactured to purities appropriate for their use in drug preparations, i.e. the “requisite” purity.
Websters defines a pharmaceutical as MEDICINAL DRUG. Fish oil and vitamins are NOT medicines. Joint supplements are NOT medicines.
By the way, another little ‘uh-oh’ moment in regards to fish oil:
Fish Oil Dosage
Three to six grams daily dose of fish OIL will suffice for most individuals. Apparently many ‘experts’ do not understand the difference between the dosages used in studies and the omega 3 fatty acid yield. Therefore they think that three to six grams means three to six grams of EPA/DHA which is requires a ridiculous amount of oil.
Another subject that goes hand in hand with the whole “pharmaceutical grade” thing is “premium price designer fish oils” as Tom Venuto calls them in Fish Oil May Help You Burn Fat, But Not That Much Fat. I’ve added a comment at the end of that one regarding my views on this matter.
We made fun of the latest training gimmick, The ShakeWeight, in the comments to Joe Weir’s post, Training Youtube Style and since then I’ve seen this “ShakeWeight” pop up on a few more blogs. Mostly just to make fun but sometimes just to criticize it but with no real understanding of just how ridiculous it is. That doesn’t mean some people will not buy this thing and really feel like it works, which is what made me want to comment on it.
I’ll refrain from commenting on the obvious. If you haven’t seen the video you’ll see why this particular product may not sell so well!
Now, they will probably get testimonials at the shakeweight site. Some may be fake, but don’t assume that testimonials are always fake. I’ve read people imply that testimonials are always made up many times and I doubt that it is true in general. Those of us who have been around this stuff for a while realize that there is ALWAYS plenty of people to enthusiastically embrace, promote, and defend pretty much ANYTHING you can imagine in the fitness world. I’m not saying that lots of testimonials aren’t fake; I’m just saying don’t assume it. People will testify!
And here’s the thing. They will believe it. You hand an absolute beginner a Shakeweight and they will “feel” the muscular tension resulting from this. In fact, “you will feel it instantly” is part of the ad copy. And I am quite certain that it is a true statement. People will feel this. And they will associate that with a positive training effect. They may even get a bit sore. They will ’see’ visible results in their arms. And those results may be real in the form of an increase in general tonus.
A seasoned strength trainee would not mistake this proprioceptive awareness of muscle tension as proof of a good workout but this is a common mistake among beginners.
But testimonials from absolute beginners are worthless. Sorry to all the beginners out their but your opinion on equipment doesn’t mean much. Because everything will “work” to a point. For a beginner we are talking about the difference between SOMETHING and NOTHING. Something will tend to get you better results. And if not better results at least A result!
For a little while. Even a shakeweight. As ridiculous as it looks, it’s a form of resistance. And if you are weak enough it’s a workout. For your arms and “upper body” anyway.
We also have to accept that many people don’t want to get strong in a progressive way. They are quite happy to get a small result and then maintain that result. And that is okay.
What they may not realize, however, is that changes beget changes. When you make a positive step forward, your outlook tends to change. It may change for the worse:
Say, you buy a stupid piece of equipment like the shakeweight because you are gullible enough to be convinced by the marketing. Then you get results but the results are not up to your expectations. You got excited because someone made you believe that an easy little gimmicky toy would get you big results (this doesn’t have to be the shakeweight…any gimmick will do). When those results don’t pan out you are let down. It’s not just your attitude toward the product that sours; it’s your attitude toward working out in general. You tried and you failed and so you give up.
So junk like this gives people false expectations and that is damaging to their goals. Their negativity should be focused on the product and it should be a ‘back to the drawing board’ moment. But if that were the case they never would have fallen for the gimmick in the first place.
On the other hand, you may perceive a small improvement as a positive step forward. The fact that you were able to make a change opens your mind to further change. You may not be content to rest on your laurels. You may want a little more. One of the MOST important things to recognize is that YOUR GOALS AND NEEDS WILL CHANGE as you go along. And the fact they do means you are doing it right. You have to let that happen.
Problem is these gimmicky little products can’t grow with you. You take something like a shakeweight and compare it with a simple inexpensive adjustable dumbell set from Target, or Walmart, or just about anywhere and you get ten times better results from the dumbells in the beginning because they can be used for a fullbody workout and can be used for much longer in a progressive way. Its amazing that crappy products such as these can even compete with that. But its easy. You appeal to the customer’s laziness.
You have to do the work with the dumbell. The dumbell just sits there. It doesn’t vibrate or gyrate or do anything that makes you believe it is doing the work for you.
If you are plagued by an unknown and unexplainable pain in certain parts of your body, you may be suffering from fibromyalgia. It is a form of rheumatism that does not affect your joints; instead, it affects certain tender points (there are 18 points in 9 locations) that are very sensitive to touch. People who have fibromyalgia tend to be chronically tired and depressed because of continuous muscle pain.
Myofascial pain on the other hand refers to chronic pain in a certain muscle group because of inflammation. The pain you feel may not be just in the particular muscle but also in adjacent areas because of the referred pain. Trigger points help identify myofascial pain – when pressed, they cause pain.
The main differences between tender points and trigger points are:
Tender points are associated with fibromyalgia while trigger points are connected to myofascial pain.
Tender points are used to diagnose fibromyalgia while trigger points are to be treated when a person suffers from myofascial pain.
Tender points are specific only to certain parts of the body (18 to be precise) while trigger points may occur at any muscle group.
The pain associated with fibromyalgia is widespread while myofascial pain is concentrated on a certain region in your body.
As many as 11 out of the 18 tender points in your body must radiate pain for a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
Trigger points develop because of accidental injury, repetitive motion injury, poor posture and scar tissue formation (after a surgery).
Trigger points may be latent or active – latent trigger points become active because of stress and may cause referred pain in adjacent locations and organs.
There is no proven consensus on how tender points develop – all that medical personnel know about them is that they radiate pain when pressed for diagnostic purposes.
If your medical practitioner or care provider associates trigger points with fibromyalgia and tender points with myofascial pain, it’s a warning sign that you must change doctors at once, because he or she is not well-informed or knowledgeable.
This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of nurse practitioner schools . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com
Lately I’ve been blogging a lot about grip training and grip strength. You may have heard Eric refer to an exercise called the Crosswise Brick Exercise. He loves this exercise and so do I. Its great for developing finger and wrist strength, which is essential in just about everything we do, plus its a heck of a lot of fun to lift a stack of bricks! Check out the full story at my blog and get ready for another addictive grip exercise.
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