Forty Years in the Fitness Business

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Bill Crawford

Celebrating forty (40) years in the fitness business this year!
If I include my athletic training during the years before I got into the gym business, I have been working out for over fifty (50) years. If I count up all of the training sessions over the past forty years (I’m still training at least 10 clients a day) I believe I hold the record on the most number of trainings, with well over 125,000 hour long sessions logged training clients (not including the thousands of group fitness and aerobic classes I have taught). When I first started this, the term “personnel trainer” had not yet been coined. Doctors advised against lifting weights and my friends and family encouraged me to “get a real job”. Early on, Jack LaLanne stopped by my new Nautilus club in Westwood, California and told me to “stick with it kid; you’re on the right track. This time, fitness is here to stay”. That was the ignition of the modern day fitness boom. Jack Lanne was right!

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Exercise Machines Are Not Useless

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Bill Crawford

Throw away your exercise machines? A recent national health magazine article advised readers that some weight resistance exercise machines are useless. This is representative of an emerging trend where the cross-fit, core, balance and functional training community is diminishing the value of weight resistance exercise machines. There is confusion and debate regarding abandoning machines for skill training based exercise. Discarding machines for other training options drags the fitness industry into the dark ages and risks people’s well-being. The value of machines should not be overlooked.
What’s the difference between machines and other tools? To perform a proper analysis of the issue we must separate different types of exercise and their best applications and differentiate between strength training and skill training. Practically anyone can perform a basic lift in isolation where simple movements are defined as ability. However, performing a lift while balancing or utilizing the coordination of several muscle groups requires skill. If you introduce competition, it becomes a sport. Weight resistance exercise can better prepare you for a skill or sport, but practicing a skill or sport doesn’t better prepare you for lifting weights. Strength training is beneficial for everyone. Skill training narrows the populations who can benefit and apply the skills. Skill training is most successful when the subject is strengthened prior to training. The stronger you are before subjecting yourself to the rigors of skill training, including balance and impact force, the less chance for injury.
Basic laws of strength training. Every muscle benefits from strengthening. The best way to strengthen a muscle is to provide resistance in overload against muscular contraction through the full range of motion. When exercised in isolation; the contracting muscle receives an abundance of oxygenated blood and focused neural energy for recruitment. The overall concentrated effort specifically for strengthening muscles provides optimal benefit. Machines provide a stable platform where isolated exercise can occur safely and effectively with a low risk of performing an exercise improperly, because body movement is restricted within the action of the mechanical apparatus.
History. Dumbbells and barbells have been around since the beginning of time. They are primitive tools that provide resistance against force powered by muscular contraction. They introduce limited stress to muscle cells, which adapt to stress by increasing in strength.
What are the capabilities of free weights? Free weights provide unidirectional, or straight, in-line resistance against gravitational force. Muscular contraction occurs within the frame of rotary joints. Most body parts move in rotation, around a rotational axis. Because joints move in rotation, natural movement is usually incompatible with straight, in-line resistance. When utilizing free weights for resistance against force powered by muscular contraction during weight resistance exercise; the exerciser will experience areas in the range of motion during contraction where there is little or no resistance. At the apex of contraction using in-line resistance; the resistance aligns with supporting bone structure of the rotational movement and is transferred from the contracting muscle to the bone. Resistance is supported by bone structure and not muscle, resulting in a segment of muscle escaping stress from overload resistance. Bone structure and momentum relieves resistance values in high ranges of motion. When muscle tissue is not stressed equally through the full range of motion, it is disproportionately stressed. Less than optimal stress on muscle tissue results in weak segments in contracting muscle. Muscle not sufficiently stressed will not adapt and become stronger, resulting in deficiencies in the strength curve.
Good applications for free weights. There are some specific exercises where straight, in-line resistance is purposeful. Straight-up, in-line lifts utilizing dumbbells such as shoulder shrugs, one-arm rows, one-arm overhead presses and wrist curls are effective.
Momentum and impact force issues. In hand, free weights are directly attached to the furthermost point of pendulum like anatomical structures that produce lift. Inertia and momentum may occur when lifting free weights through their range of motion. The result is extreme stresses on the pivotal points at the center of axial rotation. The extreme forces produced by inertia during the lift are converted to destructive impact forces, especially when momentum is arrested.
Why are machines different? Many engineered machines account for and adjust to the variations in straight, in-line resistance combined with rotational movement by forcing the resistance to be transmitted to the contracting muscle through an engineered pulley or cam, which is basically a lever. This changes resistance factors by variations of angles throughout the resistance curve. This varies the amount of direct resistance applied by the weight throughout the full range of motion. These cams and levers are specifically engineered to match the forces produced by muscular contraction throughout the full range of rotational movement. This is called variable, equalized resistance. The amount of resistance is matched to the contracting muscle throughout the variable angles in the range of motion in the strength curve. The result is muscle stressed proportionately, therefore producing strong muscles.
New technology. New multi-plane machines provide compound corresponding resistance in more than one plane simultaneously for a higher level of taxation on muscles. Multi-plane machines may increase comprehensive strength values. Spreading resistance over more than one plane may reduce joint sheering. Some machines now integrate and record data to qualify and quantify progress and monitor cardiac response.
Don’t throw out your machines. Innovation and knowledge has advanced strength training and fitness. Many beneficial tools and techniques are available to provide a comprehensive offering for strength, core, balance and functional training. Strength training machines are not useless. The trend to abandon isolated mechanized weight resistance training as the matrix for skill, functional and balance training is incorrect, especially in entry level, deconditioned and geriatric populations. Because of this trend and the explosion of core and functional training facilities; orthopedic treatment for related injuries has increased significantly. Engineered machines provide a safe and stable isolated platform from which to safely and effectively strengthen muscles. Additionally, isolated mechanized exercise machines are the logical foundation for all skill training protocols requiring strength and stability. There is no substitute for weight resistance exercise.

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Elliptical Trainer Issues

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Bill Crawford

Why don’t I have elliptical trainers in my fitness training facility? After you read this; you may change your mind about their benefit.

In the natural world, when you are walking, running or stepping; your foot comes down where it wants to. It makes contact with the ground, within its natural stride. This placement is in part determined by the mechanical linkage of the linkage of the femur and the tibia and fibula bones in your legs.

The mechanical linkage of an elliptical trainer is designed to exact specifications. Your foot is connected to these exact specifications by the metal foot plate where your foot is placed. Your foot remains in a “fixed” position, on the plate, affixed to the metal linkage throughout the movement and range of motion. This creates a mechanical chain. Remember: A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

If the mechanical linkage of your leg bones is not an exact match to the mechanical linkage of the elliptical trainer, there will be a force alignment issue somewhere. It will usually show up in either the knee or hip. Because bones and connective tissue is not as strong as the metal components of the metal linkage of an elliptical trainer, the wear from the misalignment will manifest itself in the joints of the hip and knee. This is a problem that can result in orthopedic issues.

I often encounter exercisers who are experiencing hip and knee discomfort. I routinely ask them if they are using an elliptical trainer. If they are; I explain the issues to them. Those who stop using ellipticals are usually pain free within a matter of weeks.

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You have two hearts

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Bill Crawford

     

Bill Crawford with 2nd heart

 We all have two hearts; a big heart and a little heart. Your little heart is the one known to most everyone. It’s the one in your chest; the cardiac muscle. It beats involuntarily on its own. It pushes the basic blood supply through the arterial and vascular system.    

The big heart takes over where the little heart leaves off. The big heart pushes blood deep into tissue throughout the body and assists in returning blood to the lungs. The contraction of muscle boosts circulation in two aspects. In the immediate contracting muscle, the contraction forces movement of blood from the venules, which drain deoxygenated blood from the capillaries, through the veins to the vena carva, and from there through the right atrium and ventricle to the pulmonary circulation of the lungs, where the blood is oxygenated for return to the systemic circulation. The other, inderiect aspect works like compression pants. Contracting muscle forces blood into other areas. This shrinks the total capacity of the available vascular system forcing more blood into less space. The result is increased blood penetration into all vascular areas of tissue.    

 The big heart intensifies the blood flow and pushes blood into deep muscle, bone and connective tissue and gives an additional boost to blood on its way to organs. The circulatory accelerate received from the pumping action of active musculoskeletal eccentric – concentric muscular contraction is a critical component in the circulatory system and underscores the importance of the attributes of the big heart. Its job and the importance of the pumping action of the musculoskeletal system is a necessary component of cardio-vascular health, often unknown or overlooked by many Cardiovascular Physicians.

Here’s a recap of how it works: When muscles contract; the contraction squeezes the vascular system within the specific muscle group; just like the smaller contractions of the cardiac muscle. The squeeze from muscular contraction pushes deoxygeneted blood out of the contracting muscle and back into the system where it returns to the lungs. The muscular contraction of the specifig muscle raises pressurised blood flow everywhere else. The boost result is blood pushed into deep tissue through tiny capillaries activated only by voluntary muscular contraction. The benefit is oxygenated blood, micro-nutrients and amino acids being delivered into deep tissue, including the brain. This deep tissue penetration is not possible though involuntary cardiac contraction on its own, especially in sedentary subjects with weak heart beats. The eccentric – concentric action must be activated by forced recruitment of musculoskeletal voluntary muscles contracting against resistance in overload. The ability of musculosleletal contraction to pump blood makes weight resistance exercise extremely valuable to subjects with compromised cardiac muscle.    

Overload is best applied by high intensity weight resistance exercise in equalizes resistance throughout the full range of motion as found in MedX weight resistance exercise equipment. My gym; Basic Training in Scottsdale, Arizona has a complete line of MedX strength training, coreand Medical equipment.  I was trained and endorsed by Arthur Jones; the inventor of Nautilusand MedX.  I have over thirty-five years of training experience and I am certified for Musculoskeletal Evaluation and Rehabilitation through the Exercise Science Department of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.  I can save your life. 

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Horse flies, BPH and tamsulosin hydrochlorides

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Bill Crawford

I was recently informed by a ninety year old client of mine that he only has to get up twice in the night to relieve himself now that he is on a prescription drug that mitigates the consequences of an enlarged prostate; benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH. He asked me what I thought about this. My first reaction is always centered around the adverse and unintended consequences of all medications. In this case, I couldn’t help but recall an observation I made while spending time with my horse in the back country.

My horse Inspector

I had been riding my horse in the mountains above Flagstaff, Arizona. At the end of a day’s ride, I was observing his behaviour related to the flies which were abundant.  The pesky flies were causing my horse to twitch, shake, stomp his feet, swisch his tail and force musculoskeletal movement in general. At first; I felt sorry for my horse, because of what I initially perceived as the torment he was enduring. Then it occurred to me that if the flies were not irritating him, he would be sedentary. Many standing and resting mammals, both domesticated and in the wild,  stay in the same position for hours at a time, not moving. Because of the musculoskeletal response to the irritation caused by the continuous presence of the flies, there is constant random movement. Movement is always a good thing.

My point is now obvious. Is it a good thing to rouse sleeping geriatric men out of bed in the middle of the night to relieve themselves instead of remaining frozen in a state of immobility for hours on end? Is there value to movement? Are there risks associated with non-movement?

In older years, there are compounding issues confronting survival. Sedentary, inactive behaviour aggravates the dangers. When circulation slows down, blood pools. Oxygen is not distributed into areas of the body where it is desperately needed. When you rest; you rust.  Is taking tamsulosin hydrochloride medication so you don’t have to get up in the middle of the night similar to taking the elevator when stairs are available?

As for me; I know that horse flies are in fact doing my horse and all other mammals a favor when they are at rest. I also strongly suspect that the benefits of rising up in the middle of the night to relieve one’s self far out weigh the consequences of taxing the body with another medication, purely for convenience sake. There is an interesting naturally occurring coincidence where the need to rise up and move presents at a time in life when the need to rise up and move is most needed. Something to think about. I’ll take the stairs; and I’ll get up in the middle of the night.

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Alternatives to MedX

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Bill Crawford

MedX facility in Basic Training

If you know what you’re doing, your options for weight resistance exercise need not be limited to specialized equipment. The fact is; with the proper knowkedge you can workout in your back yard with rocks.  You can also sew your own clothes, grow your own food and have babbies at home. But who would want to if you don’t have to? My first choice for weight resistance exercise is MedX, but there are alternatives to the state-of-the-art equipment if you don’t have access to it. Here are some of the most popular:

If you have to work out at home, or when traveling, a good choice is rubber resistance bands. Stored energy resistance from springs and rubber bands is the next best thing to variable equalized resistance (as found in Nautilus and MedX machines) for providing resistance against force produced by muscular contraction. The resistance from stored energy usually increases as the contracting muscle shortens. This is progressive resistance. Progressive resistance can be found in the versatile rubber bands. The resistance is present throughout the full range of motion, and is present in the concentric and eccentric aspect of the muscle contraction.

Demonstrating Resistance Bands to US Navy

I developed a rubber band resistance exercise for personnel on submarines the US Navy. This same program is available at no charge on Apple i-phone ap: gymtogo, or on www.GymtoGo.com.  Rubber band resistance is also the foundation for the VQ Actioncare Resistance Chair which I recommend. 

The worst substitute for true equalized resistance is the hydralic cylinder machines so popular in the women’s fitness chain franchises found in strip malls across the country. These machines are usually set up in a circuit. They produce only positive resistance, but have no negative resistance. Therefore muscles only train in the concentric aspect of the concentric – eccentric movement. The negative eccentric aspect where the muscle lengthens is the most valuable component of the movement. Because of friction produced in the negative motion, the negative aspect is stronger then the positive. The negative movement is the most beneficial aspect for producing strength gains of the muscle fibers. Another issue is conflicted blood volume flowing into two different muscle groups which diminishes the benefits of oxygenated blood flow into isolated muscles.

Other alternatives to Nautilus and MedX include home gyms that promise grandiose results, easy to use and family fun all at the same time, but in fact end up being expensive clothes racks. The mechanical deficiencies of home gym equipment make most affordable home gyms available to the public poor choices for beneficial weight resistance exercise. Here’s a clue; look in the classified ads of your local newspaper or on Craigslist and you will find these common denominators: Hardly used, never used, brand new, still in the box and similar descriptions testifying to the fact that the equipment was underutilized.

My advise is to utilize the assemblage of commercial weight resistance available at your local fitness center. Usually there is at least one machine specifically designed for each major muscle group. The machines are well maintained in working order, and always ready. There is a purpose for your visit to the center, and you can walk away from the environment when finished. Do yourself a favor when you want to shape up: Join a gym; results start when you do!

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Get back to the work we got out of

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Bill Crawford

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, people were much more physically active than in present day. It was necessary to perform physical work in order to function in society and to stay alive. There were daily chores around the residence; chopping wood, emptying the ash and clinkers from the stove, pumping or carrying water from the well, harvesting food, caring for animals and walking to and from most destinations. There were no power tools, automatic lawnmowers or automobiles.  Just about ever task imaginable had work as a component. The world was being developed and there was no substitute for raw manpower to accomplish the work.

Today, we live in a push-button world. We rarely use our muscles to produce any manual labor at all. I’m certainly not suggesting we give up light switches, hot and cold running water or automobiles, but we must artificially create a balance in our physical world for the physical shortfalls created my modern technology.  The human body has had tens of thousands of years developing genetic and physiological compatibility with physical work. Our bodies depend on stress created by physical work for healthy development, function and good health. Without physical output; a cascading domino effect takes place causing a complete failure of our physical systems which is well documented.

Fortunately, we have the option to substitute physical work with measured exercise. We know how to create safe environments in which we can perform exercise. We have developed technology to produce machines that are a biomechanical match to our musculoskeletal system. We have developed cardiovascular machines to strengthen the cardiac muscle. The knowledge acquired and the functional efficiency of the exercise machinery is so advanced it is not necessary to spend eight hours a day producing the physical output necessary for a healthy balance in our lives. We can accomplish our fitness maintenance requirements in one-hour periods two to three times per week. And everything you need to do this along with the instructional know-how and motivation is available at your local fitness center. Basic Training is one such facility and is located in downtown Scottsdale, Arizona.

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Variable resistance for strong muscles

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Bill Crawford

Dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells provide unidirectional, or straight, in-line resistance against gravitational force. Muscular contraction occurs within the frame of rotary joints. Most every body part moves in rotation, around a rotational axis. Because the body moves in rotation, it is usually incompatible with straight in-line resistance.

There are a few specific exercises where straight in-line resistance is compatible. Shoulder shrugs, one-arm dumbbell rows and one-arm dumbbell overhead presses where straight-up, in-line lifts are performed. Because of the specificity and limited range of motion, wrist curls using dumbbells can be productive.

When attempting to utilize dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells for resistance against force powered by muscular contraction during weight resistance exercise; the exerciser will experience areas in the range of motion during contraction where there is little or no resistance. This is because at the top end of the contraction using in-line resistance; the resistance aligns with the supporting bone structure of the rotational movement. The resistance is then transferred from the contracting muscle to the bone. The weight is then supported by the bone structure and not the muscle. The result is an area of muscle escaping the stresses of overload resistance. If the muscle is not stressed, it will not adapt and become stronger. The end result is a disproportionately stressed muscle with weak spots in contraction.

When Arthur Jones invented Nautilus and MedX exercise machines he accounted for the variations in straight in-line resistance combined with rotational movement by forcing the resistance to be transmitted to the contracting muscle through an irregular shaped pulley called a cam. The cam, which is basically a lever, changes resistance factors by variations of angles throughout the resistance curve. This varies the amount of direct resistance applied by the weight throughout the full range of motion. These cams were specifically engineered to match the contraction forces produced by muscular contraction throughout the full range of rotational movement. This is called variable resistance. The amount of resistance is a perfect match for the contracting muscle throughout the variable angles in the range of motion in the strength curve. The result is muscle stressed proportionately, therefore producing much stronger muscles. Original second generation chrome Nautilus and MedX strength training equipment is available at Basic Training in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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Fitness Goals: Define and understand

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Bill Crawford

Setting achievable incremental goals for fitness objectives is obviously an important component in your overall health and wellness program. When goals are carefully contemplated and realistic they can serve as a pathway to  realization.  How do you define and set fitness goals if you can’t define what a goal is?  Is your goal a target? Is your goal an aspiration?  I have heard many definitions including destination, intention, objective, ambition, mission, and intent all used to define goals. Many times I have asked clients to define goals and I hear the standard responses like; “I hope to accomplish…,” or “I want to…,”   or “I would like to...”

If we venture into the workplace and poll workers at the beginning of their day and ask; “What is your goal for accomplishment this day?” What would be the response, and how would people articulate what their goals mean to them?  Let’s ask the traffic cop what his goal is. Perhaps he would say: “I would like to write ten tickets today.” Let’s ask the football player: “I want to win the game today.”  Let’s ask the salesperson who replies: “I hope to sell my product today.” All of these are standardized answers to goal setting. And they are all wrong because they subconsciously leave open the option and opportunity for failure. Is taking your next breath a goal? How do you define this?

As we board our next flight; let’s ask the airplane pilot to define his or her goal for the day. If they reply with “I would like to…,” “I Want to…” or “I hope to…” or “my target is…” don’t get on the plane. If you’re on; get off. Find someone who knows how to define and set their goal for the day, fly a plane and land safely as their non-negotiable objective, no matter what. “Would like to…,” “I want to…” and “I hope to…” are not goal attaining operative adjective words. A goal is a non-negotiable standard; something that must take place no matter what and under any conditions, unconditional. If my pilot understands this, I’ll fly on their plane. If my clients understand this when committing to fitness goals, they will reach their goals here and in life. The words: “I can’t” should never be spoken when facing challenges in obtaining a preset goal.  “I can, I will; I did!”  

If you understand what a goal is before you set it; you will be successful in achieving your goal.    

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Comparison: MedX to Kettlebells

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Bill Crawford

Let’s compare MedX to Kettlebells.  

Equalized Resistance:MedX provides equalized resistance from compound selectorized weight stacks, adjustable in two pound increments throughout the full range of motion.  

Kettlebells in 1897

 

 Kettlebells are subject to the deficiencies in the strength curve because of the imposition of gravitational pull on rotational leverage against a free floating mass of resistance to the extended lever involved in the lift which is governed by the fact that bone structure and momentum relieves resistance values in the high ranges of motion. This produces a deficiency in the resistance in the top end of muscular contraction resulting in disproportionate stresses of the contracting muscle tissue. When muscle tissue is not stressed equally through the full range of motion, the result is disproportionately stressed muscle. This produces less than optimal stress on muscle tissue for production of strength increases through stress in the entire muscle.   

 Impact Force:MedX weight stacks travel twelve inches or less, governed by an elaborate system of levers. This short distance of vertical travel deprives the mechanical apparatus the opportunity to develop momentum and inertia during the lift. This eliminates the possibility for impact force related injuries. Because there is no friction in MedX, the lift can be preformed at slow speeds.  

Kettlebells are free floating masses of cast iron (from China) with intense gravitational pull traveling through multiple planes of movement, powered by muscular contraction. The kettleballs are directly attached to the furthermost point of the lever producing the lift. This pendulum syndrome produces inertia and momentum in order to lift heavy weights through the range of motion. The result is extreme stresses on the pivotal points, or joints, at the center of axial rotation. The extreme forces produced by inertia during the lift are converted to destructive impact forces when the momentum is arrested.  

 The differances between Kettlebells and MedX are night and day. Using Kettlebells when MedX is available is like using a crank telephone when a smart phone is available.  

MedX

 

 Isolation: MedX provides isolated contraction of the exercising muscle tissue involved in the lift. The benefit of isolated contraction is concentrated neural-motor recruitment, concentrated oxygenated blood flow into exercising muscle tissue and a stabilized platform for muscles to contract through the full range of motion without the assistance of other muscles.  

Kettleballs provide no isolation or stability. Because multiple groups of muscles must contract in concert to provide stability and leverage points for the exercising muscle to flex against; isolation of contracting muscle is not possible. Neural-motor recruitment is spread out among several muscle groups, diluting the benefits of concentrated blood flow into the exercising muscle tissue.    

MedX is the state of the art, modern, scientific approach to weight resistance exercise. Kettlebells (like Palaties) are a throwback to technology over one-hundred years old, resurrected and hijacked by marketers and salespeople with no knowledge of musculoskeletal weight resistance exercise.  

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