February 9, 2012 | Category: Strength Training |  The squat probably gets more of a bad rap than any other strength training movement, the barbell back squat in particular. Many people will choose the leg press machine instead, blaming the squat on their knee or low back injuries. Others will only perform partial squats, fearing injury if they go too deep. Avoiding injury is always a good thing, but avoiding the squat is like refusing to walk because you’ve seen other people trip and fall on the sidewalk. Millions of professional and amateur athletes around the world regularly perform deep squats without injuring themselves, demonstrating that it’s possible to squat safely.
The fact that a properly performed squat is very safe has been presented many, many times by others who are much more qualified than >> Read full article
November 20, 2011 | Category: Mobility | The typical arguments in favor of barefoot running are far from convincing, in my opinion. The barefoot advocates certainly have a lot to say, but the simple fact is that there is no evidence that shoes are the cause of injuries, or that running barefoot will prevent injuries. The claim that a forefoot strike is most optimal for long-distance running is completely unsubstantiated. Where your foot makes contact in relation to your center of mass is more important than which part of your foot strikes the ground first. Heel-striking is not synonymous with overstriding, and correcting an overstride can easily be accomplished while wearing shoes. Furthermore, all of the elite runners wear shoes, and the available evidence suggests that the far majority of elite distance runners are heel strikers.
Despite all the indications that shoes are here to stay, I believe there is still value in devoting some time to barefoot >> Read full article
August 14, 2011 | Category: Running | Barefoot running has taken off in popularity recently, aided in part by the research of Daniel Lieberman out of Harvard University, and the sales of Born to Run, written by Christopher McDougall. Unfortunately, I think there has been a tendency to blindly adopt and recommend barefoot running without considering all the available facts, or without even considering that some facts are simply not available at present. As stated on Lieberman’s home page:
“Please note that we present no data on how people should run, whether shoes cause some injuries, or whether barefoot running causes other kinds of injuries. We believe there is a strong need for controlled, prospective studies on these issues.”
That’s about as honest as you can get. Personally, I interpret that as a caution against jumping headfirst into barefoot running before considering any potential drawbacks, or any possible contradictions with simple observation. My bias >> Read full article
January 7, 2011 | Category: Strength Training | Deciding what to write for my first article wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Where do I start, when there are virtually an endless number of topics and issues to cover? After some deliberation, I figured that since developing a base of strength should be at the foundation of any fitness program, then I might as well write about that and make it the foundation of my article base. Much of my future efforts will be focused on HOW to train for strength, but first let’s try to establish a few reasons WHY it’s important for everyone to engage in some form of strength training, even if strength isn’t the main goal.
I say “some form” of strength training because individual needs and goals vary. If you’re a long-distance runner, for example, then working toward a 600-pound squat will probably not be very high on your priority list >> Read full article
|
|
Connect: