#SummerHealthGoals

#SummerHealthGoals

 

Danielle Maloni, BA, ACE-CPT, NASM-CPT, ACE Peer Fire Fighter Trainer  

 

As summer officially kicks off with the Memorial Day Weekend, we here at the HFA are looking forward to the Summer Health Goal Challenge and inviting everyone to participate with us!

For the challenge we are asking everyone to write down a "SMART" Goal for the summer with a goal date of September 1st. 

But what does making a "SMART Goal" really mean? Let's look at it in the form of an acronym...

S- Specific

M- Measurable

A- Achievable

R- Realistic

T- Time Bound

 

Goals such as: "Lose Weight" don't follow the "SMART" criteria. Such vague goals are typically not adhered to since there is no real goal to reach towards. 

By adding just a few more pieces we can meet the "SMART" Criteria. Such as: "Lose 5 lbs by September 1!" 

This goal is highly specific, measurable in the 5 lb scale difference, absolutely achievable in the time frame given, realistic and time bound by the September 1st deadline. By adding the "SMART" criteria to our summer goals, we are more likely to follow through and succeed on the goal set ahead. 

 

So I encourage you to stop by the HFA in the next few weeks and get your "SMART"  #SummerHealthGoal up on the board! All those who reach their goals by September 1st will be invited to celebrate with us! 

Have a Happy and Safe Memorial Day Weekend and a HUGE thank you to all the current and prior Military Service Members!

 

TIME TO SQUAT!!!

It’s time to squat!

Research has indicated that squatting exercises are effective in strengthening the hip extensors, knee extensors, and ankle plantar flexor, and that relative muscular effort (RME) of each muscle group is dependent on squat depth and weight lifted Bryanton et al.

So, what does this mean? Basically, if you want a stronger lower body then you need to incorporate squat exercises into your training regimen, and focusing on form, depth, and weight.

But, you’ve never squatted before. That’s ok. There are a number of things you can do to build up the strength, balance, coordination, and confidence necessary to perform a squatting exercise.

Here are a couple of ways to do this:

Partial Squat:



Don’t perform a full squat. Just do a partial squat and slowly build up the strength necessary to squat all the way down to parallel.

Chair Squat:




Squat to a chair then return to a standing position, this removes the required balance and coordination aspect to the squat allowing you to work your way to the point where you no longer need the chair to perform this movement.

Braced Squat:



Squat while holding on to something sturdy so you can brace yourself throughout the movement.

Try these and before no time you’ll be squatting like this guy!



Just joking!

So you already can squat…

Research has shown a common means by which strength coaches, athletes, and recreationally trained individuals provide variation and overload is by including partial lifts in their training programs. Partial lifts have been used commonly to improve strength at the terminal range of motion (ROM) of a movement, enhance metabolic adaptations, prevent injury, and enhance sport performance Bazyler et.al.

An important note!

Individuals with a previous reconstruction or existing knee injury should restrict flexion at the knee to 50 to 60 degrees and should not squat to parallel Schoenfeld et.al.

I hope this helps you as you prepare for our squat challenge, and if you have any questions please feel free to contact the Health and Fitness Academy at 208-557-2823 or you can contact me directly at nbernal@mvhospital.net

Noah Bernal BS, MS, CISSN

References:

Bryanton, M. A., Kennedy, M. D., Carey, J. P., & Chiu, L. Z. (2012). Effect of squat depth and barbell load on relative muscular effort in squatting. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 26(10), 2820-2828.

Schoenfeld, B. J. (2010). Squatting kinematics and kinetics and their application to exercise performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(12), 3497-3506.

Bazyler, C. D. (2013). Efficacy of Partial ROM Squat in Maximal Strength Training (Doctoral dissertation, East Tennessee State University).

Everyone Hates Squats! So why are they so important?

What muscles are we working during the squat Challenge?

Everyone Hates Squats!!!!

Have you ever wondered what muscles you are working when you squat? Why is it that every well programmed weight routine always includes one to two variations on this exercise? According to Livestrong there 4 major muscle groups used during these exercise and there is not a better exercise for functional movement.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/416344-what-muscles-do-squats-work-out/

Erector Spinae

Although you may not think of the squat as a back exercise, the erector spinae muscle group contracts isometrically -- without shortening and lengthening -- during both the downward-movement and upward-movement phases of the exercise. The erector spinae group includes the iliocostalis, longissimus and spinalis muscles that span the length of your back on both sides of your spine, attaching to various structures therein. Although the muscles don't contract concentrically or eccentrically when you perform the squat, they are the primary spine extensors and also assist with lateral, or sideways, spine flexion and torso rotation ranges of motion.

Gluteus Maximus

The gluteus maximus muscle attaches to the posterior, or back, portions of the coccyx, iliac crest, ilium and sacrum on the inside of the pelvis on one end, and to the back of the thigh bone and the iliotibial band, or IT band, on the other. It is the largest of the gluteal muscle groups, which also includes the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles. It facilitates hip extension along with the hamstrings on the back of your thigh. The gluteus maximus contracts eccentrically -- while lengthening -- to control the speed of the downward-movement phase of the squat, and concentrically -- while shortening -- to extend your thighs during the upward-movement phase.

Hamstrings

The three muscles that make up the hamstrings muscle group -- the biceps femoris, semimembranosus and semitendinosus -- are also active when you perform squats. All three muscles attach to the ischial tuberosity on the back of your pelvis on top, and to the tibia bone of your lower leg, just below the knee joint, at the bottom. The biceps femoris also attaches to the head of the fibula bone of your lower leg. The hamstrings help the gluteus maximus muscle with hip extension, so they function in the same way when you perform squats -- eccentrically during the downward-movement phase and concentrically as you return to the starting position.

Quadriceps

The rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis and vastus medialis muscles are referred to collectively as the quadriceps muscle group. The rectus femoris attaches to the anterior inferior iliac spine, just above the hip socket, and the others attach to the thigh bone, just below the hip socket, on top; all four muscles combine at the bottom, attaching to the patella on the front of your knee joint. The quadriceps muscles serve as the primary knee extensors, increasing the angle between your lower and upper legs. Like the hip-extensor muscles, they contract eccentrically during the downward-movement phase of the squat and concentrically during the upward-movement phase.”

Good luck with the challenge this week, let us know if there is anything we can do to help. ghouston@mvhospital.net

Psst...Take a Breath

Now that our plank challenge is complete, and the squat challenge is now underway, I thought we should talk about an important, yet sometimes neglected part of exercising – breathing. But before we get into a discussion on breathing, let’s make a quick correction about the squat challenge test day. We had originally scheduled the test for May 29^th, without realizing that May 29^th is Memorial Day. I don’t know about you, but we will be taking the day off; therefore, we will move the squat challenge test day to May 30^th instead. Mark your calendars now and get to work on those squats.

And now, moving on to breathing. Breathing is such a relaxing word, and usually exercise isn’t, so how do they go together, what does it have to do with the squat challenge, or even just exercise in general? Breathing is one thing that we don’t have to tell ourselves, remind ourselves, or force ourselves to do, it is involuntary – so why does it matter? Well surprisingly, there are many benefits of breathing correctly during exercise.

Some of the benefits are that if we are breathing right, we can experience greater range of motion while exercising, do more exercises in a limited amount of time, and work our bodies harder in a routine because it’s being fueled by oxygen, among many other things.

Okay, we know that there are benefits to breathing correctly during exercise, but how are we supposed to breathe while we exercise? There are many different techniques out there for breathing during exercise, but today I just want to discuss one of them that will hopefully help you while you exercise (and practice your squats for the squat challenge). This technique is exhaling on the concentric portion of the exercise.

Let’s break down the phases of an exercise so that this makes more sense. In each exercise you perform, there is a concentric phase, and an eccentric phase.

The concentric phase is the shortening of the muscle, while the eccentric phase is the lengthening of the muscle. Typically, an easier way to think about it is that the concentric phase is the harder part of the movement, and the eccentric phase is the easier part of the movement.

So, this breathing technique is based on exhaling during the concentric (harder) part of the movement.

When applying this theory to a squat (weighted or not), think about it – is it harder to lower yourself down toward the ground, or stand back up? If you aren’t sure, stand up and do 100 or so of them and see what part starts to get harder. No really, stand up and do a few if you aren’t sure.

After that little experiment, hopefully you were able to realize that the “harder” part of the movement was when you were standing back up. That means you should exhale every time you stand up from a squat.

If you weren’t able to determine which part was “harder” because maybe the exercise wasn’t hard enough, think about it in terms of the muscle shortening and lengthening. In a squat, the quadriceps work eccentrically (lengthen) as you lower yourself down, and work concentrically (shorten) as you stand back up. Again, that means you should exhale as you stand up (using the theory we are discussing today).

Here are some other examples, with different exercises, to help reinforce this concept. To exhale on the concentric portion of the exercise, exhale during the:

STANDING up portion of a squat (shortening of the quadriceps)

PRESSING up portion of a bench press (shortening of the pectorals)

PULLING up portion of a pull up/chin up (shortening of the lats)

PULLING up portion of a deadlift (shortening of the hamstrings)

STANDING up portion of a lunge (shortening of the quadriceps)

PRESSING up portion of a push-up (shortening of the pectorals)

CURLING up portion of a bicep curl (shortening of the biceps)

KICKING back portion of a triceps kickback (shortening of the triceps)

Breathing in this way while you practice your squats, or other exercises, can help you to reduce recovery time between sets, and help avoid feelings of light-headedness from holding your breath. This could translate into meaning you can do more repetitions or use more weight when you breathe this way.

Try it out and see what you think! Does it help you be able to do more reps, more weight, or even just feel better after your set? You won’t know unless you try!

 

Until next time (if there is a next time because my baby could come before next time)!

Please to hesitate to ask any questions you might have!

Miranda Harris

mharris@mvhospital.net

Squat it Up

Our Plank Contest was a success!! We had testing this afternoon and will again this evening! So now that has come to a close next we will be doing Squats! It start May 1, 2017 (so today) and we will test at the end of the month on the 29^th So you have 4 weeks to strengthen those bad boys up!!

 (your legs J)

How we will be testing is by having individuals squat to the point where they will sit on one of our benches and then come back up to a standing position and squat back down returning to a sitting position. Doing this as many times as you can until your form brakes or your legs give out. We will be looking at correct form not only to insure that no one is injured but to also keep the results fair and facilitate that everyone is doing them the same!

The best way to practice whether it is here in the gym or at home would be grabbing a chair and seeing how many CORRECT squats you can do in a minute, and then over the month build up! Adding weights will increase your strength and allow you on testing day to go longer because we will test no weight barring.

Below are some pictures that will show you correct form and technique!

If you are wanting a schedule to help you with a starting point here is one provided!

Let the Games Begin and Good Luck!!!