The push for barefoot running is gaining more and more emphasis for todays athletes.  And there appears little that can be argued against the concept – afterall running shoes are a recent concept that has been monopolised by some of the biggest brand names in the world.

5 Fingers - Gloves for Your Feet

A recent study at the University of Newcastle in Australia concluded there is no scientific evidence to support claims that running shoes with elevated heel crash pads and elaborate anti-pronation systems prevent injuries in runners. The findings have been published in the March 2009 edition of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

“Since the 1980s, distance running shoes with thick, heavily cushioned heels and features to control how much the heel rolls in, have been consistently recommended to runners who want to avoid injury,” Dr. Craig Richards, one of the researchers, said in a press release announcing the results of the study. “We did not identify a single study that has attempted to measure the effect of this shoe type on either injury rates or performance. This means there is no scientific evidence that [those shoes] provide any benefit to distance runners.”

Caleb Wegner writing in “Run For your Life Magazine“  in 2006 and Michael Warburton, a Queensland Physiotherapist, wrote in Sportscience 2001 about the benefits of barefoot running. Now there is a growing body of eveidence to support this concept.

Testimonials from practitioners across Australia reveal widespread anecdotal evidence of the benefits of protected barefoot activities using 5 Fingers – “Running in FiveFingers improves agility, strength and equilibrium, plus it delivers sensory feedback that allows runners to make immediate corrections in their form. This greatly improves running efficiency.” Dr. Ivo Waerlop (chiropractor & expert in gait biomechanics in sports)

5 Fingers are versatile and are effective for running & exercise

]]> http://blog.aokhealth.com/barefoot-running-vibram-fingers/feed/ 0 http://blog.aokhealth.com/functional-exercise-chiropractic/ http://blog.aokhealth.com/functional-exercise-chiropractic/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:49:39 +0000 BradleyW http://blog.aokhealth.com/?p=576 The Functional Approach

by K.D. Christensen DC, CCSP, DACRB

Selecting the ideal exercises for patients with back conditions requires judgment based on clinical experience and scientific evidence. There are several approaches to rehabilitation, and many different types of exercises are available; however, patients have a limited amount of time, willingness, and enthusiasm to exercise. Therefore, we must always try to give our patients the most effective exercises for their condition. But, what are the “best” exercises for Chiropractic patients?

Selection Criteria

The best exercises for a specific problem are those that will be rapidly effective, easy to learn and perform, and are safe; that is, they don’t worsen the current condition or aggravate other problems. The exercises must help the patient to regain normal alignment and easy, natural movement. And the end result should include a decreased chance of similar, recurring problems.

One Leg Balancing Using Bpdyblades

A successful and appropriate rehabilitative program for the back and/or neck can be designed without the use of expensive, joint-specific equipment. While rehab type machines can be very useful, current active care concepts consider such equipment not an absolute requirement. In fact, the low-tech approach can be very effective for the treatment of most spinal conditions. Additional personnel, fancy equipment, more office space, and extra time are not always necessary. With an understanding of normal spinal function, knowledge of the involved muscles, and some updating of exercise concepts, doctors of Chiropractic can effectively rehab their patients with timely in-office instruction and patient performance followed by simple home exercise procedures .

Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands

The “SAID” concept is one of the underlying tenets of the strength and conditioning field. [1] It describes the observation that our bodies will predictably change in response to the demands that are placed on them. If we frequently perform aerobic activities, then our lungs, hearts, and muscles become more efficient at taking in and processing oxygen. When we spend more time in activities requiring force and providing resistance, our bodies become stronger. And, if we practice balance and coordination skills, we improve our ability to function easier on unstable surfaces (such as on an incline, rolling ship or a pair of skates). In fact, these improvements in our abilities are quite specific, and we become better at doing whatever it is that we do most often.

Balancing on a Turtle

It has taken quite a while for those specialists in the treatment of spinal problems to incorporate the SAID concept into neck and back rehab programs. Recently, some of us have begun to use the same thought processes to design spinal exercises that we have used for decades to determine appropriate x-ray positions. As Chiropractors, we do recognize that the spine functions very differently when it is not weight-bearing. We now know that an ideal way to help our patients return to normal function is with exercises that imitate as closely as possible the real conditions under which the spine must function day after day. That certainly must include the specific stress of gravity in the upright position.

Kinetic Chain Exercises

When the spine is bearing weight it is part of a closed kinetic chain. This is the manner in which we use the joints and connective tissue of the spine during most daily and sports activities, and it requires the co-contraction of accessory and stabilizing muscles. Weaker or injured muscles can be quickly strengthened with the additional use of isotonic resistance to stimulate increases in strength. Isotonic resistance can come from a machine, from weights, from elastic tubing, or just using the weight of the body. Perhaps more important than the equipment used is whether the spinal support structures are also exercised in an open or a closed-chain position.

Open-chain exercises for the spine are done non-weight bearing, while either lying on the ground or immersed in water (which removes much of the effect of gravity). Both floor-based and water-based exercises have some specific usefulness, primarily during the acute stage.

A good example of this is a study comparing closed vs. open kinetic chain exercises for the training of the thigh muscles. Augustsson et al. wanted to improve their subjects’ vertical jump height. [2] Two groups exercised twice a week at maximal resistance – one group doing closed-chain exercises (barbell squats), and the other working on the knee extension and hip adduction weight machines (open-chain exercising). At the end of six weeks both groups had gained considerable strength, but the closed-chain exercisers were the only ones who improved significantly in the vertical jump. Since jumping is a closed-chain activity, the SAID concept tells us to expect that closed-chain exercising will likely be more effective.

Functional Position Exercise

We know that the functional origins and insertions of many muscles change when changing position from standing to lying down. Certainly the proprioceptive input from receptors in the muscles, connective tissues, and joint capsules is very different between the two positions. This is why it is also important to bring neck and back rehab exercises closer to real-life positions, and it explains why patients make rapid progress when they are taught to exercise in a functional (upright) position.

Patients initially may need to exercise when lying down. However, continual floor-based exercises do not train muscles and joints to function in upright functional postures. The neurological patterns that are developed on the floor or in a pool may not resolve problems encountered in upright activities. Generally, continually learning new skills and habits on the floor doesn’t translate to better functioning during upright activities And, some patients don’t like to get down onto the floor to exercise, anyway.

By staying up off the floor, exercising in a weight-bearing position is actually easier for most patients. In addition to being more focused and practical, upright exercising trains and strengthens the spine to perform better in everyday activities. Patients accept the idea of doing exercises that clearly prepare them for better function during normal activities of daily life.

How to Spot a “Sham” Exercise

When investigators want to test treatments, they always require a “control” group, which is given a treatment that is known to be ineffective. A 1998 study on back pain published in the respected journal Spine taught several popular low back exercises to the control group. As with other studies, the researchers found no improvement using these exercises. [3] The six exercises considered a “sham” treatment included: knee-to-chest stretches, partial sit-ups (”ab crunches”), pelvic tilts, hamstring stretches, “cat and camel”, and side leg lifts. The problem with these and most other commonly recommended back exercises is that the joints, discs, muscles, and connective tissues are not bearing weight during the exercise; therefore, the movements performed while exercising do not prepare or retrain these structures for daily activities. On the other hand, exercises performed with the spine upright (standing or sitting) against resistance specifically train and condition all involved structures to work together smoothly. Thus, effective exercises are ones that are performed upright, in a closed kinetic chain.

The Value of Balance Exercises

For many athletes (whether recreational or competitive), it is important to regain the fine neurological control necessary for accurate spinal and full body performance. This means that about five to ten minutes of each workout should be spent exercising while standing on one leg, with the eyes closed, while standing on a mini-tramp, or using a special rocker board. The advantage of these balance exercises is seen when athletic patients return to sports activities and can perform at high levels without consciously having to protect their backs. Back exercises done on a rocker board or while standing on one leg can be more useful than those done on a gym ball, since the entire body is in a closed-chain position during the exercises. The stabilizing muscles, the co-contractors, and the antagonist muscles all have to coordinate with the major movers during movements that are performed during closed-chain exercising. This makes these types of exercises very valuable in the long run, particularly for competitive athletes.

Floor work wearing 5 Fingers

Functional Alignment

Many chronic spinal problems develop secondary to an imbalance in weight-bearing alignment of the lower extremities. In fact, lower extremity misalignments — such as leg length discrepancies and pronation problems — are frequently associated with chronic pelvis and low back symptoms. [4] Any of these that are present will need to be addressed in order to resolve the patient’s current symptoms and to prevent future back problems. The use of adjustments, exercises, and custom, flexible orthotics for the lower extremities is especially critical when a functional approach is taken. The effects of weight bearing and the alignment of the kinetic chain must be considered.

Conclusion

Selecting the best exercise approach for each patient’s back problem is important. A well-designed exercise program allows the doctor of Chiropractic to provide cost-efficient, yet very effective rehabilitative care. Exercises performed with the spine upright (standing or sitting) specifically train and condition all the involved structures to work together smoothly. The end result is a more effective rehab component and patients who make a rapid response to their Chiropractic care. Except for brief periods in patients who are acute, caution must be heeded for continual exercises that don’t place patients in real-life, functional positions. While this may require a change in standard procedures, it is consistent with Chiropractic philosophy and treatment approaches. When you persist with this, you will experience dramatic improvements in patient outcomes.

References

1. Fleck SJ, Kraemer WJ. Designing Resistance Training Programs. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1987.

2. Augustsson J et al. Weight training of the thigh muscles using closed vs. open kinetic chain exercises: a comparison of performance enhancement. J Orthop Sports Phys Therap 1998; 27:3-8.

3. Snook SJ et al. Reduction of chronic nonspecific low back pain through the control of early morning lumbar flexion — a randomized controlled trial. Spine 1998; 23:2601-2607.

4. Rothbart BA, Estabrook L. Excessive pronation: a major biomechanical determinant in the development of chondromalacia and pelvic lists. J Manip Physiol Therap 1988; 11:373-379.

Published on www.ccptr.org July 26th, 2003. For more about the author go to http://www.ccptr.org/rehabilitation-specialist/kim-christensen-d-c/

Matt Farley worked with the AOK team for a number of years as a technical specialist and always proved to be a knowledgable ambassador for AOK’s range of proven and trusted products. He has recently launched an independent fitness venture in the Hunter.

Locomotion Health Club, located in the picturesque Hunter Valley Gardens Village is a unique and luxurious gym and health facility. The club offers people who live, work or visit the wine region a fabulous venue to exercise, or simply relax and unwind.

The boutique health club has a range of handpicked strength, conditioning, and cardiovascular equipment.  Visitors or members who join will also have access to the 12.5m heated swimming pool, spa, sauna, showers and tennis courts at the stunning Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens.

Locomotion Health Club

Hunter Valley local Matt Farley is the creator and owner of Locomotion Health Club.   Matt is hugely passionate about all things health and fitness, and has been in the Industry for close to 15 years.  Backed by qualifications in Health & Sports Science and having starting out as an aspiring professional athlete in Singapore, Matt worked internationally and in Australia gaining an enormous amount of experience in the field.

Matt says, “Locomotion Health Club has been in the pipeline for a few years now.  As a local myself, I felt that people who lived in our region needed a health club that was convenient and one that enables them to look after their health and fitness in a more personalised way.”

“From sport specific programming, personal training, fitness evaluations and older adult programs, we are able to assist all ages and fitness levels.   Massage and physiotherapy services are also available.”

“Our staff are highly trained and experienced at helping people reach their goals.  We will also be conducting two annual 12 week boot camp programs that will be a fantastic challenge for members looking to take their fitness outside to the next level.”

“The Hunter Valley is synonymous with world class wines and fine food, but it is important to balance out these pleasures with exercise.  As they say, everything is best in moderation!”

The Locomotion Health Club is located at the Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens, Broke Road, Pokolbin.  Opening hours are Monday to Friday 6:00am to 8:00pm and Saturday 7:00am to 12:00pm.

For further information or to interview Matt Farley contact Rebecca Mortimer at Agent99 PR on 0409 362 539 or email Rebecca@agent99pr.com

Maybe feeling like it doesnt matter how hard you run you still don’t get that far ahead?

You love health & fitness but not sure how to make it into a profitable career?

Well we have a great story to share of two former employees from AOK Health who after years working here at AOK have made a massive success out of their new businesses

David Corin worked at AOK Health running our education division (Australian Graduate School of Health and Sports Science) from 2003 to 2008. Many AOK clients will have met David at the various AGSHSS courses that he organized or as a regular face at FILEX.

Mick Gardner worked at AOK Health from 2007 to 2008 running the export department. AOK won Exporter of the year in 2007 & 2009 so Michael knows all about quality service and the fitness industry.

David’s Story

In 2009 David purchased a Step into Life franchise and set up in Warners Bay by Lake Macquarie. Mick began his franchise with Step into Life in 2010 and has set up in Dungog and East Maitland.

David Corin

“When I was with AOK I had been lucky enough to spend 5yrs meeting a lot or trainers, business owners and senior managers in corporate positions (like Fitness First, Fernwood etc). I saw a lot of really excellent PT’s who were struggling to make a profit. I saw a lot of managers who had good jobs and worked hard but the company owned them, and they didn’t really have control over what they did each week, each day.

“I wanted to be involved in health & fitness, but I didn’t want to be a slave to the business. I wanted to build a business that would allow me to work around my family needs yet deliver me a substantial income. I wanted to build an income stream quickly and needed to have the right systems and structures for that to happen fast.

For me this is the perfect job, except that it’s not a job at all.

One thing I didn’t expect is how much joy I would get from helping others help themselves with their health & fitness. Seeing the changes my clients have been able to experience in both mind & body through their training has just been an inspiration. I love going to work each day! I love seeing my clients and hearing their stories and yes, making them sweat that little bit harder in the park!”

Mick’s Story

“Since arriving back in Australia after an 8 year stint in the UK running a Personal Training studio, I was left in a bit of a dilemma. Should I start my own business or work for someone else? I started work with AOK Health in their export department.  This was a great chance to meet and develop relationships with a wide variety of people from around the world.  These people included self-employed Personal Trainers to owners of larger retail organisations.

From communicating with these clients on a weekly basis it became apparent that everyone in the fitness industry seemed to work extremely long hours.  Now although I don’t mind working long hard hours I was sure there had to be an easier, more time effective way of helping people stay fit and healthy whilst still being able to live my own life and watch my family grow up.

Then I remembered a friend telling me about Step into Life as he had been an assistant trainer at a venue and was raving about the concept. I had a look at the website and asked for more details. I attended an info session and was sold straight away. The things that appealed to me were the systems, ongoing support, the objectives of the business and the fact that you don’t have to constantly think of new ideas. They are already there. All I have to do is promote my venue with the help of my state office.

I have been in operation since Feb 10 and have over 60 clients already. The way we train people allows me to train 60 people 2-3 times a week in a 14 hour period, enabling me to have a lot more spare time for myself.

The most rewarding part of the job (if that’s what you call it) is seeing the clients achieving their goals and realising their potential. That never ceases to bring a smile to my face.”

Could you be next?

AOK Health has teamed up with Step into Life to offer a great bonus package to anyone who wants to really start making a decent income from their fitness business but not have to work like a slave!  Contact David Corin ( warnersbay@stepintolife.com )  and he will tell you how take advantage of the $600 AOK product bonus (products at recommended retail).

If you are interested in finding out more about the Step into Life opportunity, then click here and register for more information on details on whats available to you as an AOK Health customer.

David says “Step into Life has given me what I needed. A great business model that provided the framework that helped me quickly build a substantial PT business over my first 6mths. I now have over 100 clients and my income is way higher than anything I previously earned in the corporate world. Best of all is that now I have grown to my target numbers, I can now take timeout more often and do the things I want to each day, not the things I have to!”

In examining great performance we must look at what separates a good performance from a truly exceptional performance.  In doing just that, many researchers and journalists are now suggesting that what really makes the difference is a highly specific type of practice or training which has become known as deep practice or deliberate practice.  Geoff Colvin tells us in his book Talent is Overrated that “deliberate practice isn’t the kind of hard work that your parents told you about.  It’s difficult.  It hurts.

But more of it equals better performance.  Tons of it equals great performance”.  In The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle actually gives us the physiological explanation for the success of deep practice based on recent research and how it can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice.  Here we begin to understand the role of myelin in this fascinating story.

Think of myelin as the insulation that wraps around our nerve fibres (the white matter); it works to increase the speed, signal strength and accuracy of the neural firing mechanism.  Thus, “the more often we fire a particular circuit, the more myelin optimizes that circuit, and the stronger, faster and more fluent our movements and thoughts become”.

So, with increased amounts of a certain type of practice, layer upon layer of myelin gets laid down around our nerve fibres.  The more we develop the circuit, the more automatic the skill becomes.  This process is a slow one.  And this deliberate practice requires that we make mistakes.  Many experts agree with the estimation of at least 10 000 hours of deep or deliberate practice to become an ‘expert’ at virtually anything.

Generally speaking, in learning a new skill we must extend ourselves beyond what we have been previously capable of performing.  A good coach encourages the following process during learning: the student explores a little, makes mistakes, acknowledges and then works to correct those mistakes.  The universal instinct is to slow down the new movement at least initially, often breaking it into its most basic components.  Then work begins on mastering each component and finally taking a look again at the task as a whole.  Finally, work is done to speed up this new movement/skill.

One of the keys to successfully promoting this process of deliberate practice is the manner in which ‘feedback’ in training is provided by coaches.   As we find ourselves utilizing 3D technology and audio biofeedback more regularly to facilitate technical change, we should examine this mechanism for change more closely, asking ourselves whether in fact we are supplying this feedback in the most effective manner.  If this ‘augmented’ feedback is not provided in a way that reinforces the concept of deliberate practice, we may find some of our coaching methods falling short of the mark.

Traditionally, augmented feedback (verbal, visual, audio) in coaching has been provided as often and as soon as possible following execution of the ‘new’ movement skill in such a way as to reduce performance errors.  But is this a true learning effect?  And are learners becoming too reliant upon augmented feedback in order to correct the movement errors?  We already know that cognitive processes play an important role in the early stages of skill acquisition, and this seems to fit in with the concept of deliberate practice.

Past research in motor learning has focused on the use of certain coaching strategies in order to ensure skill retention rather than simply improved performance during practice.  Yes, there is a difference!  Some of the conclusions on augmented feedback and practice regimes made by Lee et al in a literature review on cognitive effect and motor learning are listed below:

1) Low relative frequency of augmented feedback may be an important variable in learning better than high relative frequency.  Thus, encouraging the learner to interpret their own performance by reducing the relative frequency of the feedback positively affects cognitive effort;

2) Fading the relative frequency of feedback over the course of the practice has been shown to be an effective strategy;

3) Relatively good skill retention has been measured following practice in which augmented feedback was made following a delay;

4) Encouraging the golfer to estimate their own augmented feedback has value (suggesting that there is a cognitive effect in attempting to learn to interpret their own intrinsic feedback);

5) Augmented feedback is most beneficial when it serves to encourage the golfer to learn self evaluation skills using sources that will be available during competition;

6) Random practice (e.g. hitting to different targets in random order) often results in much poorer acquisition performance than blocked practice (e.g. hitting  several consecutive shots to a specific target) but better acquisition on skill retention tests.

Thus, random practice may encourage a learner to compare and contrast the methods and strategies used for performing the different tasks better than repetitive type practice.

Obviously the goal of most learning situations is for the learner to become somewhat independent of the teacher.  And as coaches, one of our goals is to provide feedback as a ‘reliability check’ to ensure that intrinsic sources of feedback are being correctly interpreted by the learner, hence ensuring a positive learning situation.   In effect we must educate the learner about learning!

References:

Lee D.L., Swinnen S.P., D.J.  Serrien.  Cognitive Effort and Motor Learning (1994).

Colvin G.,  Talent is Overrated, (2008).

Coyle, D.,  The Talent Code, (2009).

Extract from: VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5, Golf BioDynamics NEWSLETTER

AOK's Newcastle Champioship Team

Netball is physically demanding - its rules and court surface have evolved a game that requires explosive bursts of speed, sudden changes in direction or braking and the ability to jump.  Footwork rules mean that frequent and explosive bursts of acceleration to receive a pass are usually followed by rapid deceleration.

Biomechanical studies have indicated the abrupt deceleration characteristic of netball landings after catching a ball result in excessively high ground reaction forces when a player’s foot contacts the ground.  Excessive and repeated ground reaction forces can increase risk of lower limb ligament damage and chronic musculoskeletal disorders.  Although players may be able to withstand high ground reaction forces if their musculoskeletal system is properly aligned, players with a skeletal malalignment, unusual footfall pattern or who land incorrectly risk potential injury.  As such, netball has attracted a reputation as a game with a high potential for injury particularly to the lower limbs.

The most frequent netball injury occurs to the ankle, particularly sprains of the lateral ankle ligaments.  That is, a player lands on the outer border of the foot, causing the ankle to “roll” in under the leg and stretching or tearing the lateral ligaments of the joint.  Ankle injuries account for approximately 60% of total netball injuries requiring treatment.

A tip for lower leg rehabilitation is to use Vibram FiveFinger as your footware. As well as the sport applications the Vibram FiveFingers are being used by chiros, physios, and podiatrists to increase foot strength improve mobility and strengthen neural pathways.

The near perfect proprioception together with the grip of the TC1 sole allows patients recovering from accidents caused nerve trauma to become mobile (and thereby recovering) faster.

‘For many years I have been telling my patients that we are hunters and gatherers. We should be walking across rocky outcrops on undulating surfaces in barefoot – or with a piece of leather strapped to our sole. Now, Vibram have made the perfect shoe. Fivefingers. Well Done. (Brent Gordon – Chiropractor/Osteopath)

Five Fingers

By: Brian Jones, Exercise Physiologist & Personal Trainer

As an Exercise Physiologist and Certified Personal Trainer, I am continuously looking for new ways to challenge and to intensify to my client’s training sessions. The most versatile piece of exercise equipment I have been using is the AOK Weighted Vest which has provided my clients with great results! Before I started using the AOK Weighted Vest, it was important to find sources that were knowledgeable fitness professionals that understand the importance of having safe and effective fitness exercise equipment. Personal trainers, coaches, athletic trainers, occupational and physical therapist can implement the AOK Weighted Vest in their training sessions with their clients.

Its unique flexible GEL Fit Body Contour design fits clients from small to large, and because it is a comfortable snug fit, it does not hinder any of our exercise drills. It keeps the weight close to your body for maximum benefit.

The AOK Weighted offers trainers and users many benefits!

• Improves strength, power, and endurance
• Increase core strength
• Great for improving your vertical jumps
• Increase power and muscle activation
• It can improve bone density
• Can help the elderly to strengthen bones
• Can be used during resistance training exercises
• Can be used for cardio or walking

I use the AOK Weighted Vest with clients who want to get results with weight loss. When wearing the AOK Weighted Vest, it will help raise your metabolic rate, which in turn will burn up to 70% more calories. If you train regularly the AOK Weighted Vest can improve blood pressure, decrease cholesterol, increase muscle tissue and reduce stress. All of these benefits will help your body burn more fat and improve your overall health!

Use the AOK Weighted Vest for a variety of exercises, including:

• Walking
• Climbing stairs
• Push-ups, planks, hovers, reverse planks, supine bridge, and side planks
• Yoga and posture drills
• Indoor and outdoor cycling
• Pilates
• Pull ups
• … the list is endless!

In the American Fitness article Resistance to the Core (2005), the authors give examples of how exercise routines would benefit from wearing a weighted vest. The following guidelines would be a great way to use the AOK Weighted Vest.

Exercise Recommendations: Individuals exercise to increase cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and skill related to an activity of interest as well as improving body composition.

Cardiovascular Fitness Guidelines: the following are published exercise guidelines to improve cardiorespiratory fitness (ACSM, 2002; AFAA 2002)

• 3 to 5 times per week
• Intensity of 55/65 percent to 90 percent of HRmax or 40/50 percent to 85 percent HRR
• 20 to 60 minutes in duration

Exercise progression will vary with the participant’s goals, i.e., athletes will progress differently than those who are exercising for general fitness. Training recommendations also depend on a client’s physical abilities, health status, age and preferences.

Resistance Training Guidelines: the following are published exercise guidelines for resistance training (ASCM, 2002; AFAA 2002)

• 2 to 3 days per week
• 1 set of 8 to 10 exercises that condition the major muscle groups (multiple-set-regimens may provide greater benefits if time allow)
• 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise – for older, more frail persons (approximately 50 to 60 years and above), 10 to 15 repetitions may be more appropriate

To ensure training effect occurs, fitness professionals must educate the client regarding the principle of overload. Depending on the client, incremental changes can be made to the frequency, intensity, duration or mode to assist the client in achieving a training effect from overload. Optimal strength occurs by using weights that promote maximal muscle tension, while endurance gains occur by using lighter weights and more repetitions. Depending on a client’s goals, fitness professionals may elect to use a variety of resistance training systems.

A final note about the AOK Weighted Vest

The great thing about the AOK Weighted Vest is almost anyone can benefit from it. If you are a serious athlete you can use the Vest to challenge yourself to new levels. If you are an intermediate athlete you can use the Vest to develop a stronger core, which will give you strength for all physical activities. If you want to lose weight and burn fat faster than this is the fitness equipment tool for you. It will help you build endurance, power and improve your overall quality of life!

Medicine ball training is one of the oldest forms of strength and conditioning training – the first reference to wrestlers training with sand filled bladders appears in Persia nearly 3000 years ago. In ancient Greece the physician Hippocrates had them sewn out of animal skins and stuffed with sand. His patients threw them back and forth for injury prevention and rehabilitation. Their association with physical therapy gave them their name.

Since that time technology has allowed us to expand this important concept in power training. AOK has been manufacturing medicine balls for the past 14 years using the same technological innovations that we developed for the manufacture of mediBall PRO. Modern balls are way ahead of the old leather ones.  Medicine balls fill a void that traditional weights can’t because they allow you to successfully train using dynamic and random movements. Today’s medicine balls also bounce – remember you can’t safely bounce, catch or toss dumbbells.

Rather than filling a bladder we have thickened the skin of our balls and weighted the plastic to achieve the desired training weight. Our rotary moulding method of ball production lets us include an inflation valve in the ball. This allows the user to change the skin tension by adjusting the amount air in the ball. This allows the balls to rebound and provide a very dynamic training environment. And much safer than throwing dumb-bells around the gym.

Supine Russian Twist

In today’s competitive sports environment, strength and power have become extremely important for high level performance. But what is power. Power is the rate of doing work; that is, it takes into account the time required to do a given amount of work. The definition of work is force times distance, hence, power is composed of three components: (1) Force; (2) Distance; and (3) Time.

Incorporating medicine ball drills into a training program is an excellent method for increasing both general and specific power. Specific medicine ball drills are those drills which simulate the movement pattern used by the athlete during a particular skill. General medicine ball drills are those drills which stress posture, balance, flexibility, and stability, but may not stimulate the movement patterns used by the athlete. These general medicine ball drills develop strength and power throughout the torso, laying the foundation for the future use of specific medicine ball drills. Drills with medicine balls such as those shown in Paul Chek’s DVD series “Dynamic Medicine Ball Training & Workout” will allow the athlete to work on many components of athletic ability simultaneously.  These drills can be modified to follow the Principal of Specificity of Training (optimal carryover will occur when you overload the muscles in the exact pattern of movement). Since the drills require movement along various planes, agility, speed and power systems are challenged. Paul Chek says that medicine ball training provides a much-needed stimulus for the high threshold motor units and wakes up those fast twitch muscle fibers as part of pre-event training.

In addition, the usual type of trunk training is done in the sagittal plane only. However, sport happens in three planes. Rotational training is one of the most neglected areas in many programs. Most traditional ab training is often done while lying down. Training for sport needs to take place in both prone and standing positions, with the emphasis on standing.

“Medicine balls fill a void that traditional weights can’t because they allow you to successfully train using dynamic and random movements.” That’s because today’s medicine balls also bounce. “Obviously,” says Strong, “you can’t safely bounce or toss dumbbells.”

These medicine ball exercises will add a new dimension to your training program in addition to improving your rotational power. Medicine ball exercises tend to be more ballistic than most traditional gym exercises and therefore should be performed with caution and only by advanced trainees. Make sure you are thoroughly warmed up before attempting these exercises. I recommend performing at least 2 sets of each exercise at 60% intensity prior to your work sets.

The premise for using such devices, is the dramatic improvements in functional balance and core conditioning that can be achieved. This is often the case when these abilities are compromised through injury or other deficits but not always the case when talking about  sport-specific gains that are reported from using all these tools.

What Is Balance Anyway?

Uninjured or impaired athletes don’t have the same balance training needs as the rehabilitating athlete.  In order to fully critique the current use of balance training for athletes, we should first have a general idea of what balance is. Balance, is simply defined as the ability to maintain the center of gravity (COG) over the base of support (BOS).

This ability is made possible by the co-operation and co-ordination of three primary sensory systems: the visual, the vestibular (inner ear), and the somatosensory (Click here for a Power Point Presentation – Proprioception changes with injury) systems. These three systems are often referred to as the triad of postural control. It is through the combined feedback from these three key systems that we are able to move and maintain balance without falling over.

Balance Strategies

An important concept to understand how we regain balance after losing it is postural sway. Postural sway is the normal, continuous shifting of the COG over the BOS. When an individual is able to keep within their limits of stability, balance is maintained. However, when postural sway exceeds these limits, a restabilizing strategy is required in order to prevent falling. There are three fundamental strategies for regaining balance that have been identified: the ankle strategy, the hip strategy, and the stepping strategy.

During mild postural perturbations, most people will use the ankle strategy to regain an upright stance. This strategy simply recruits the ankle platarflexors, dorsiflexors, invertors and evertors to correct any minor disruption in upright stance. No stepping action is necessary with this strategy. Several common balance devices such as the rocker board, foam rollers, and balance pads elicit the ankle response.

If postural perturbations are even greater, the hip strategy might be used alone or in conjunction with the previously mentioned ankle strategy. During the hip strategy, balance is regained by flexing and extending the hips and spine in order to keep the COG within the confines of the BOS. If successful, no stepping action is needed.

With even more disruption to ones balance, the body calls upon the stepping strategy in which a forward, backward, or lateral step must be taken in order to restore balance. This type of strategy is much more common in sporting type of situations as it typically occurs under more ballistic conditions than the previous mentioned strategies. Also, due to the speed in which these corrective steps must be taken, little or no feedback is used to modify the movement. This type of control is also known as feedforward or open loop control, and it is common to many sports and even daily activities that require speed, quickness, or a fast reaction time.

When an athlete is standing on a balance device, they are typically only working the ankle and hip strategies to regain balance and are able to receive adequate feedback about how to correct their balance. This is not very specific to the demands of real life and sport so these balance drills can hardly be called sport-specific. Also, many of the surfaces (foam rollers, Swiss-balls) differ greatly from any surface found in most sporting situations.

Unless incorporating very innovative training drills the reality of using most of these devices, is that they are specific skills that may really only help the athlete learn how to better use the particular device. While there is probably no harm in using them, one has to ask if time could possibly be spent doing something more beneficial. Balance, like most other motor qualities, is specific to each task and sporting situation. Good balance in one situation does not guarantee good balance in another!

So What Is One To Do?

There is nothing wrong with using these devices so long as their limitations are realized and other, more sport-specific exercises are not being left out.  Many of the devices are a lot of fun to perform and can provide novel variation for athletes.  I personally like to use the various balance devices as active recovery or during periods of lower loading as might occur in a periodized program. However, if ones time is limited, only the most beneficial exercises should be included exercises such as variations of Olympic lifts, the 3 power lifts (squat, deadlift, and bench press), (Click here for downloadable document on Plyometrics) Plyometrics, and other important accessory movements should never be omitted for specific balance exercises.

If one includes variations of gymnastics tumbling, hopping, skipping, jumping, and sprinting activities in is hard to think that any further balance training is necessary. The martial arts also provide some very dynamic and effective forms of balance training for athletes. Getting back to balance devices, there are a couple of that I think prove to be more useful than others. The Fitter Bongo and Indo board serve as useful balance challenges that can be made to be much more unpredictable than the common balance board and foam roller exercises.

Additionally, if one takes an upright sport-specific drill, Olympic lifting or strength movement and closes the eyes (or wears a blindfold!), the proprioceptive demands increase considerably. The late Dr. Mel Siff, world-renowned sport scientist, referred to this as imperfection training. One can, for example, shift slightly back and forth while at the bottom of a Snatch, holding a bar overhead, or during the beginning of a Squat before the descent. With a little creativity, one can turn any drill, exercise, or sport-specific movement into a balance or imperfection drill.

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Training the body outward from the center, this oscillating, rapidly contracting device (about 270 contractions per minute) works the smaller, dynamic stabilizing muscles to build strength, endurance, muscle tone and coordination for ultimate conditioning in a quick yet sometimes grueling workout you’ll come to love and appreciate. And because of the Bodyblade’s compact size and the need for reps of only 60 seconds (if you can survive the burn and last that long), it can be used virtually anywhere — in the gym, in the back yard, or even while you’re watching television in the living room.

And it’s quite easy to use. Take it, shake it (by pushing and pulling front to back or side to side) and match the rhythm of the blade as it oscillates back and forth. There’s no swinging; rather, it’s the rapid movement that works on your body as you work on keeping the Bodyblade in constant motion. But the Bodyblade is about more than today’s “core stabilization” buzzword. Hymanson wants to train movement, not muscle.

“Nobody stands in one spot and develops the ability to contract their core muscles. What are you going to do when you have to move? What are you going to do when you have to move through a range of motion with high velocity. There are so many factors involved, and that’s where our Bodyblade training comes into effect, with the rapid contraction, the constant balance that needs to take place in the body anytime you’re moving.”

And how does that apply to your golf game? Not only does the helpful wall chart offer a range of movements, but the Bodyblade also has been a regular fixture for years in the HealthSouth Player Fitness Centers on the PGA and Champions tours, with guys like Jay Haas, Brad Faxon and Scott McCarron giving the ’Blade a shake.

“Golfers end up with two major problems — low back problems and shoulder problems,” Hymanson says. “And not by any accident, it’s because of loss of flexibility and timing, and the connection between upper and lower trunk.”

Focusing on those golf-specific muscles, you can put yourself into positions of the swing — address, backswing, follow-through — as you oscillate. The goal, as with all golf training, is to build greater clubhead speed and greater control of the club while strengthening your back, shoulders and inner core to work together as one healthy, coordinated body.

“I want to train your body how to move,” Hymanson says. “And in the process of training you how to move functionally and appropriately, I’m going to be training groups of muscles to work together to provide an efficient movement to get a job done, such as swinging a golf club.”

With approximately three-quarters of a million Bodyblades sold in the past 15 years, the proof is in the progress people are making every day, from mini golfers to fine-tuned athletes to disabled folks rebuilding their bodies. Of all the sticks golfers dream of swinging, this just might be the best one you could ever put in the bag. —Darin Bunch

5 models, Each includes DVD and wall chart are available at our AOK Health website.