All posts tagged functional

The Shake Weight

One of my clients sent me an article regarding this, the Shake Weight, and asked me my thoughts. Was it a waste of time?

I often say there are no wrong exercises (there are unsafe ones, which might make them “wrong”), but there certainly are inefficient ones.

So what’s the deal with this Shake Weight, suddenly popular among women due to it’s sleek and light (2.5 lbs!) design. Women have been looking for a way to “tone up” their bodies without breaking into the realm heavy weights, or man-infested weight rooms (although the Shake Weight is trying to grab a male demographic). But what is “toning up,” really? It means lowering ones body fat percentage, so that underlying muscle is more visible. To do that, you need to burn fat and create a caloric deficit.

Vibrating technology is not new. Anything that makes you shake and shimmy is “harder” than traditional exercises. Whenever something is placed under more tension, it has to work harder. There are vibrating platforms, squishy pads, Bosu balls, and hydro-fit-”technology” you shake yourself. But what’s the point, really, if all you want to do is tone up and feel the burn?

I would say the Shake Weight isn’t so much a waste of time, as everything new can confer initial strength, fitness, or body composition changes. I will, however, say that it is a waste of money. Twenty bucks for something that weighs a mere 2.5 lbs that you will adapt to in a week, maybe two. Then what? You’ve got this piece of crap littering your house.

In just 6 minutes a day, you can get results! You’ll feel a burn, guaranteed!

You know what else? 6 minutes of push-ups will sculpt your arms, and in far less time than six minutes. Plus they are free, and you don’t have to pack them when you travel.

Vibration technology has its purposes. I can imagine downhill skiers might find a vibrating platform functional for their sport. A co-worker of mine made some very critical remarks about the Bosu ball being an unsafe waste of time, but the Bosu’s instability and shaking resonated with the former rowing athlete in me, much accustomed to the unbalanced conditions of boats.

Before you drop twenty dollars to get your teeny weeny shaking weight (plus your “$15-value” burned DVD, which we know is NOT worth $15), ask yourself how it will actually contribute to your fitness.

Squatting Tips: lifting something from the floor

When you hear the word “squat,” you probably get an image of some kind of world-championship-winning power-lifter. No? Okay, then at the very least, you think of those guys–many of them meat heads, and a few lost high school boys–loading plates on the bars and squatting in cages.

Squat = bar loaded over your shoulders, right?

Yes, in part, but the squat is so much more.

The squatting motion, lowering one’s body toward the ground by bending the legs, is a most effective functional exercise (functional means “applicable in your life”). We squat down to lower ourselves onto chairs; we pick up boxes, bags, children. Ideally people would squat properly when doing so, but since modern living has “weakened” us, most people reach for things by bending their backs.

Here are a few principles to remember when squatting to pick something up:

1) If the weight or object is not between you feet, it is probably a bad squat. If that weight it in front of your toes, you are more likely to reach for it with the back.

2) Your torso should remain parallel with your shins. Once you break that parallel line, you have probably gone beyond the range of your flexibility.

3) Your heels should be on the ground. Don’t lift up onto your toes.

That’s it. Pretty simple. But what about your feet? Where should your toes point? How far apart should they be? Don’t worry about that. Go with what is comfortable at first. The hips, knees, and ankles are very versatile joints, capable of tracking in numerous ways, and how comfortable you feel squatting will depend on a number of factors: history of injury; flexibility through the low back, outsides and insides of your legs, and calves; and most importantly, muscular imbalances.

When at home, or in the gym, don’t forget to train this motion. Place a dumbbell on the floor between your feet and pick it up (sumo squat), or hold a dumbbell at chest height (front squat), and tap your butt down to a bench. Hold a set of dumbbells on your shoulders and squat up and down. Or ditch the weights, and just squat your bodyweight, touching the ground with your fingertips each rep. Throw a jump in, at the top. Oh, and don’t forget the squat thruster.

There are a dozen great ways to train your functional squat, and you can do them anywhere. Even better, squats train your butt, quads, and hips–three huge muscle grounds. The bigger the muscles, the easier it is to get your heart rate going, and the more calories you will burn.

Explaining The Dead Lift: a most efficient exercise

Let’s talk about functional training for a moment.

Functional training means exercising motions that are applicable to your every-day life. If you’re an athlete, the types of motions can get pretty fancy, depending on your sport. But if you’re just living your life, the motions are actually pretty basic.

And here, in my opinion, is the best functional exercise of all: the dead lift.

The dead lift is actually one of three power lifts (the other two are the bench press and the back squat). It’s the only power lift I care about–because it is a functional movement. You find yourself squatting down to pick up boxes, groceries, wheelbarrows, children, furniture… right? People need to lift things.

The bench press… not that important, unless a wall falls on top of you. And the back squat? Downright dangerous (and so many people do it so badly!). In my opinion, if you can’t lift the weight yourself and place it on your back, it has no business being there. I’m not saying the back squat is bad for you. But the Average Joe has better things he can do with his training time.

The dead lift is not about body building. Body building differs because its goal is hypertrophy–that is, making muscles bigger. Yes, the deadlift will increase the size of your muscles (as will all weight lifting), but it isn’t geared toward big muscles. It is geared toward power and interconnected strength.

The dead lift is a compound motion, spanning numerous extending joints: ankles, hips, back (to a small extent). It also works the quads, hip flexors, hamstrings, and glutes. Let’s not forget the traps and lats (because of the amount of weight suspended from your arms). Forearm and grip strength improve from training the dead lift (so you can open stubborn jars of peanut butter). Let’s not forget that all the major muscles in your core have to activate.

It’s one hell of a lift. An efficient lift.

The benefits of this compound exercise are awesome compared to isolation exercises (i.e., the leg press). Compound movements simply involve more muscle groups–so you’re getting more bang for your buck. The dead lift, as a matter of fact, involves all of the body’s biggest muscle groups, one after another after another. That makes for a good workout, and for the biggest gains in strength (not size).

And what is strength, anyway? It isn’t the size of any particular part. It is how that part works in concert with other parts and other objects. If there is a break or delay in a chain of movement, there is weakness. Strength implies one solid chain of movement–which is why that wiry-looking guy seems inhumanely strong. Strength. Muscular balance.

Don’t forget the dead lift.

Maria Mae Stevens

All posts tagged functional

The Shake Weight

Squatting Tips: lifting something from the floor

Explaining The Dead Lift: a most efficient exercise

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