DrTri

Baby... I'm cold.... - HomeWork #3 - 2012

2012-01-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

Continuing on with the HomeWork series based upon the "10 reasons" why Americans are fat.
We move on to #3.

Air Conditioning:
(sort of...)
Basically this talks about the reduced time that people spend out of doors!
So, this HomeWork is to "take a walk".
For the next 7 to 10 days, every evening (rain or shine or snow or sleet or crummy weather) after "dinner" we will take a 15 minute walk. 7.5 minutes out and back.
Slow or fast, but please walk and not run. This will include any members of your family that you can drag along.

Have Fun,
MRoss

*(7 to 10 days means that if 7 days of this seems impossible, then you need to get out there for all 10 days. If you already do some sort of this or 10 days seems easy squeezy, then you should be just fine with 7 days)

I'm not tir.... ZZZZZ - HomeWork # 2 - 2012

2012-01-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

Continuing on with the HomeWork series based upon the "10 reasons" why Americans are fat.
We move on to #2.

Sleep:
Or lack thereof...

Do you get 8 hours? "They" say that some of us don't need 8 hours per night. I say, what could it hurt?

So for the next 7 to 10 days, every night you must get 8 hours of sleep. (at least...)
This may be one of the most challenging HomeWorks ever! Especially with the limitations and requirements of a busy life. However, do your best to give it a try for 7 to 10 days.

Have Fun
MRoss
*(7 to 10 days means depending on your own perception of how much sleep you need and/or actually get. If 7 days seems impossible, then you should do this for 10 days. If 10 days seems like a breeze, then you are probably okay with focusing on 7 days.)

Fragile, Fat, Functional, or Fit? - HomeWork #1 - 2012

2012-01-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

There was an article published recently that looked at 10 reasons why Americans are so out of shape.

http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/Why-were-fat-10-lifestyle-changes-that-promote/fI4idwbeaU6MIB5O_Q-R-Q.cspx

And while this may not be all encompassing or the entire reason(s) why we are so obese, it is a really good look at 10 things that may contribute in some way either big or small.

So for the next 10 HomeWorks we will tackle these items, one by one, and see how much they really do impact our lifestyles.

So, without further adieu, here is the first of ten items.

Screen Time:
For 7 - 10 days, you decide, no use of your television. This means no AppleTV, no DVDs, no XBox, no sports, no cable, no nothing! on your television.
Unplug it.
Disconnect the cables from the back.
Hang a sheet on it.

Doesn't matter, just don't use it!

*(7-10 days depending on your own perception of how much use your television gets in a typical day or week. If 7 days seems too long then you probably need the full 10 days! If 10 days seems like a breeze because you can't recall the last time you watched television, then you are probably okay with just 7 days)

Have fun!
MRoss

SODO Health & Performance HomeWork for 9/15/11

2011-09-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

Beating a Dead Horse with a Broken Record...?

This installment of the HomeWork is to wrap up our 7 Basic Human Movements (8 if you are really healthy).

We have gone through:

Push

Pull

Squat

Lunge

Twist

Flex

Now to finish it off... we will "Extend"!

This is a specific repeat of numerous HomeWorks I have given and many prescriptions that I have given out in my practice. One of the most healthy things you can do for your body and specifically your low back is to "Extend". In 1984, Dr. Biering-Sorensen found that an individual's ability to hold an "Extend" position is a direct indicator of their risk of developing low back pain for up to a year. Since then 47 other studies have verified the validity, reproducibility, reliability, predictive value, as well as preventative value of the Biering-Sorensen Test.

Our current HomeWork is to perform the Biering-Sorensen Test at home.

[see the drawing below]

Place your bony part of the front of your hips on the leading edge of back extension bench pads, the edge of a table/bench, or a similar firm edged couch or chair. Support/secure your lower legs so that your upper body (from the waist up) is suspended out flat (or slightly higher than flat) in mid-air. Cross your arms high across your shoulders in front, and hold for as long as comfortably possible. Time yourself.

The data has shown that those individuals who are able to hold for 4 minutes or longer have the lowest risk of developing low back pain for up to a year following the Biering-Sorensen Test.

If you could not hold for 4 minutes, then every other day you should practice this specific exercise. Simply hold out flat for as long as you can with a full day of rest in-between each practice.

If you could, good for you! Keep doing whatever you are doing and the data says your risk of low back pain is minimal.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

SODO Health & Performance HomeWork for 5/15/2011

2011-05-15T08:30:00.001-07:00

This week’s HomeWork is not a specific task, or exercise, or movement (which
we have 1 – maybe 2 – more to complete in order to round the 7 Basic Human
Movements).
But rather a question to ask yourself...

Are you fit, functional, or fragile?

In the realm of health and fitness a catchy way to think of where you are is
to use the above triple F approach.

Fit – At this level you are capable of doing anything you want to do. Train to
go on safari in Africa? Join a kickball league with friends? Train to run a
half-marathon? Help your best friend re-roof their shed, move furniture,
push their car out of a snow embankment? Are you able to go snow-skiing,
water skiing, or play catch with your child or grandchild? At the extreme
of “Fit”, are you able to train for a sprint, olympic, or Ironman triathlon?
Or, also at this extreme, train to climb Mt. Rainier? These and many other
endeavors are in the ‘bucket list’ category of things to do before you die.
These are the things that make life more than mundane. More than regular
and ordinary.

Functional – At this level, your days consist of: Get up, get ready, go to
work, maybe go shopping or have a drink with friends or go watch someone
else play sports on your way home, come home, watch TV, go to bed. Basic
fundamental tasks needed to sustain your life. On the weekend, you do some
yard work, shop, go to a movie. Perhaps if you push it, you may sign up for
a 10K or half-marathon walk. But, that would be a significant
accomplishment. You may go to the gym, and you may have a ‘trainer’. But,
you are not able to really push the extremes of your health and fitness and
do those “one in a lifetime” events, more than once in your lifetime. You
read about people who climb mountains or trek through distant lands. You
watch your “Fit” neighbor build her shed, and re-roof her house, and then go
play kickball with their friends, and then go out and have a great time. At
the “Functional” level you are proud if you do one of those things, and
can’t imagine doing two or all three.

Fragile – At this level, you need to watch what you do for fear of injuring
yourself. Don’t want to hurt your back. Or you have weak ankles so a
soccer match for charity is not a good idea. This level is plagued with
“old injuries” that keep you from enjoying “bucket list” items to their
fullest. Sure, you might go on a cruise to the Mediterranean, but you see
the sights from the window of the bus, or walk the level ground to the
viewpoint overlooking the awesome sight where a 75 yr old couple (Salan?)
are hiking IN the awesome sight. You might be able to help a neighbor move,
but you would be the one packing boxes, or directing traffic, or setting up
the kitchen. Other healthier people would be lifting the boxes or moving
the furniture. These are the people who don’t mind when someone says,
“...be careful, don’t hurt yourself...”. At the “Fragile” level, you
consider a "full" day going to work and then able to shop for dinner
afterwards. Or mowing the lawn on a Saturday to be a real accomplishment.

Overall, the realm of “Fit” to “Functional” to “Fragile” is also the realm
of “experiencing life to it’s fullest” to “participating in life’s great
rewards from time to time” to “existing in this world and watching the great
accomplishments of others most of the time”.

This week’s HomeWork is to truly think about this. Decide if where you are
at is acceptable to you. If it is, fine. If it is not, ask yourself what
can you do about it?

Fit
Functional
Fragile

As simple as that. Ponder this.

Have a great week,

MRoss

-DrTri

SODO Health & Performance HomeWork for 5/1/11

2011-05-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

Happy MayDay!

Flex it.

Plain and simple. This week’s HomeWork is Movement #6 in the SODO/DrTri 7
Basic Human Movements.
Flex.
Our HomeWork for this week is to do 1 sit-up, any style, for every hour that
you are awake.
This is not just a fitness exercise, or a “functional movement” exercise...
But rather an exercise that may decrease your chance of having to call 911,
namely me and my cohorts, at some point in the distant (or not so distant)
future.
It is not uncommon for us to receive a ‘code yellow’ response call to assist
someone who has fallen and is not able to get up.
Whether they have fallen and can not reach their beer, or are simply trying
to get back into their lazy boy, or back in bed at 3 am, they call and we
come help them up.
Not a big deal, and we are very happy to help. It is just that I have seen
numerous individuals who are embarrassed to some degree to have to call four
firefighters to pick them up off the floor next to the toilet. Pants around
their ankles, a ‘dirty’ backside, and pride in the toilet (literally).

Who knows, perhaps if they had done this week’s HomeWork more often, they
may have retained better abdominal strength or endurance and been able to
avoid Dallas and I looking at their ‘dirty’ junk at 3 am...? Just sayin’...

Anyway, on your back, knees up or down – your preference, flex your torso,
and come up as high as you comfortably can. Don’t strain anything and don’t
worry about doing a “perfect sit-up”. Just flex your torso up as far as you
can.
Once per hour, for every hour that you are awake.

Have a great week!
And don’t forget, if you would like to come check out SODO Health and
Performance’s Rock ‘n Roll counterpart – SODO CrossFit Endurance, you are
more than welcome to come take a class or two! We are very strict in who we
will allow to join us. You must have a love of music that is either ‘80s
hair band, new wave, or good old fashioned rock and roll. Plus a
willingness to workout hard beside someone who may not be quite as fit as
you (we are comprised of all levels). And motivate them as much as they
will motivate you!

Flex it,
MRoss

SODO Health & Performance HomeWork for 4/10/11

2011-04-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

Where have we been?

We have been nailing, sheetrocking, mudding, taping, sanding, painting, etc.
etc. on the new space!
So, excuse the long interruption between HomeWork emails...
We have built out a new room for our Acupuncturist, Massage Therapist, and
Physical Therapists!

Also, I don’t want you to become so immune to getting them every week that
you just have another item to fill up your “junk email” folder with!

So let’s get right to it!

This week’s HomeWork has two levels:

Intermediate and Advanced.

Both levels are comprised of the same ‘exercise’, the “Twist”.
This is movement #5 in our 7 (do I hear 8?) Basic Human Movements.
The ‘exercise’ is to do Standing Windmills, just like Jack Lalanne –RIP-
used to teach 50 years ago (or similar).

Here’s how:

Standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width,
Point your arms straight out from your body,
Bend at the waist and touch your right hand to your left shin area,
Return to standing,
Bend at the waist and touch your left hand to your right shin area,
Return to standing,
Repeat alternating on both sides for a combined total of 20 repetitions.

The Intermediate HomeWork is to do one set of 20 reps three times per day,
morning, midday, and evening.
The Advanced HomeWork is to do one set of 20 reps every hour that you are
awake.

Have a great week,
MRoss

P.S.
We are adding a “Noon DrTri/SODO CrossFit Endurance Conditioning” class to
our schedule this week. Actually it is 12:15 so that members have a chance
to get to class on time during lunch!
Class will still be 20-40min, so that members will also be able to get back
to work in roughly an hour.
Come check it out for free if you think you are interested!
Go to http://sodocrossfit.zenplanner.com to see the schedule and/or sign up!

I am sure you will catch Zeebuyth and Schumacher there!!!

SODO CrossFit Endurance HomeWork #1 for 2011 !

2011-01-31T05:20:00.000-08:00

New name, Same HomeWork....

Sorry for the long pause between HomeWorks, we have been busy laying floors, pounding nails, and getting SODO Health & Performance as well as SODO CrossFit Endurance ready to open.

Starting this week we are offering 2x/week DrTri CrossFit Endurance Workouts on Tues & Thurs 06am or 6pm! This is the "light" schedule until we have our official Grand Opening and then we will be offering classes 6 days per week!

Go to http://sodocrossfit.zenplanner.com to sign up!

So, on to this week's HomeWork...

It is a little late, but in honor of Jack Lalanne's passing, Movement #4 in the DrTri 7 (maybe 8) Basic Human Movements is dedicated to his memory.

Lunge!

Your HomeWork is each day perform 10 lunges (5 on each side) every hour that you are awake. Doesn't matter if it is forward lunges, reverse lunges, or side lunges... Just Lunge!

Pretty straight forward, if you are not able to do a complete full lunge then just do as well as you can. Partial lunges do count!!
Whichever type of lunges you do, just remember to keep your knee back over your foot and not shoot it out past your toes.

Have a great week, and let me know if you want to be put on the official notification list for the Grand Opening Party of SODO CrossFit Endurance and SODO Health & Performance!!!

-DrTri

DrTri HomeWork for 11/21/2010

2010-11-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Squat!

Here we are on Movement #3 of the 7 (possibly 8) Basic Human Movements.
And even though we covered the “Squat” just a little while ago ( July 11, 2010), it is one the 7 Basic Human Movements, and some might even suggest it is the most important movement of them all (perhaps, some might have an argument for Movement #8, but I digress...).

So, to honor this all important movement and continue our progression through the 7, this week we will all “Squat”.

Each day we will start the day with a series of squats. Now, I know what many of you are saying, “But, DrTri, I already ‘squat’ each morning as part of my daily ritual...”
Well, good for you! and continue to eat your fiber. You already get a passing grade.

For the rest of you, and those who want to get an ‘A’ this week, here is the HomeWork:

Each morning immediately upon waking up, we will perform 10 slow and easy full range of motion squats. And remember, full range of motion is specific to your range of motion, hips, knees, and ankles. If you range of motion at 06:00 is only 40 degrees, then so be it! I don’t want anyone creating extra business for me or Lawrence Holland, MD.
Pretty simple and straight forward. Roll out of bed, drink some water, make your morning ‘deal’, and do 10 slow and easy full range of motion (for you) squats. Breath, relax and go through each motion feeling the muscles of your legs, butt, and back as they contract and relax.

If you are having difficulty ‘visualizing’ a full squat check this out

Have a great week!
Have a great Thanksgiving,
MRoss

P.S.
For those of you who do not do the 7 Basic Human Movements enough, and need to schedule an appointment with me, I now have online scheduling available. Simply go to my website (http://www.drtri.com) and click on the “Book Now” button.

P.S.S.
While you are in the giving Thanks mood this week and perhaps the Holiday Season is giving you the feeling that contributing to a worthy cause would be a great thing, it is still
“MO-vember” and I am still collecting donations for this great cause. Since November 1st, I (and many, many other men around the world) have been growing a MO-stache to raise awareness and funds for men’s health research and education (prostate cancer, testicular cancer, just to name two). We all went clean-shaven on November 1st and have been in full grow mode ever since...

Here is day 21:
(and my best, “Donate $5 or the MO-stache get’s it!", face)

Click on the link from my website, or go directly to http://us.movember.com/mospace/945222/ to donate!

-DrTri

DrTri HomeWork for 11/7/10

2010-11-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

So, out of the 38 replies/guesses I got, only 1 person has guessed what the 8th Human Movement is...
(I did tell one person, but she promised not to tell anyone else... I’m weak...)
Keep your minds engaged and see if you can guess what the 8th Movement is.

This week we move on to Movement #2.
Pull.

Simple, go pull something.

This is a very overlooked movement and nobody, and I mean nobody, in our modern 2010 society “pulls” nearly enough...
The best rowers I know spend 2 to 3 hours per day “pulling”, and this does not even come close to balancing out all the unhealthy movements that we do every day. And yes, I have seen the Deadliest Catch, and yes those men pull on ‘frozen ropes’ and crab pots for hours and hours at a time. But, they only do this a few months out of the year, and then they are just like us (only now famous for ‘doing a dirty job’) and they return back to normal society and spend most of their days participating in all the unhealthy movements we do.
Remember when lots of teenage kids had door mounted pull-up bars? You know, the $29.95 special from Big-5 Sports or GI Joes?
We lost a great deal of our health when kids got rid of pull-up bars in their bedroom doorways and started staying in the room and playing Wii...

Now, back to the simple task at hand.

Go pull something.
If you are so inclined (and want the extra credit for this week’s HomeWork), your HomeWork is to go purchase one of those $29.95 door-mounted pull-up bars for either yourself or your son or daughter.

http://www.rei.com/product/787205?preferredSku=7872050013&cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-datafeed-_-product-_-7872050013&mr:trackingCode=4F43B1FE-FB85-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007IS840/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00029A7C0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=135YZRS67NYVXGV9ASKY

Even if you mount it and they only use it for a week or two, that is money well spent. For at least you gave them an inexpensive option to a myriad of video games... And I will bet you that if you give them a $1 for every pull-up they can do in 6 months time, they will practice almost every time they walk through that door.
If you choose this option, then you must ATTEMPT to do 5 pull-ups per day this week. I don’t care if you can even budge an inch, I just want you to grab that bar and pull with all your might! 5 times per day. All at once or spread throughout the day, does not matter. The simple act of gripping and starting the pull will do more for your forearms and shoulders than 8 to 10 hours of typing on your fancy keyboard.

If you are not inclined, I refer you to http://www.drtri.com/videos.html and exercise #46, “Standing Arc-Pause-Slide”.

Your HomeWork this week is to do 10 reps of this exercise each day. I don’t care if it is 2 at a time - 5 times per day, 1 at a time - 10 times per day, or all at once anytime throughout the day. Simply do 10 reps each day this week.
This exercise will serve to help “Pull” your shoulders back closer to where they ‘should’ be...

Have fun with this and keep the guesses coming in!

Have a great week,
DrTri

“HEEEAAAD”!!!!

Extra Credit HomeWork...

2010-10-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

Just came across this great summary of a really interesting book.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/health/3073295/Expert-claims-dieting-is-a-waste-of-time.html

Read the article, then read the book for extra credit addition to the HomeWork for 10/31/10

-DrTri

HomeWork for 10/31/10

2010-10-31T09:16:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween Gang!

Human beings are designed to move. Period. Plain and simple. No ifs ands or buts.... Well maybe butts, because that is, in most cases, is the most active muscle group when people move...
We are a series of muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and bones that act to cause movement.
Numerous studies have shown that lack of movement is very, very, very , very, bad for us. Period. Plain and simple.
(Sánchez-Zuriaga D, et al, 2010)

But.... (There is always a ‘big but’)

We don’t move nearly as much as we are designed to. Even those of us who CrossFit, Run, play kickball (or soccer depending on your persuasion), do yoga, run triathlons, rescue meth-heads out of trees (cats are smart enough to self-extricate), or chase bad guys for a living, do not get as much movement as our grandparents did. And they did not get get as much movement as their grandparents before them...

As a society we have become accustomed to being very well supported in the daily activities that we undertake. We sit passively much more than our ancestors. I emphasis ‘passively’ because the generations before us were more active when they sat than we.
As an example, sit in the drivers seat of a 2010 Volvo. Take it for a spin. Feel the all-wheel drive, the power steering with one finger on the comfortable sized leather steering wheel with built in audio and phone controls, the warm heated leather seats that conform and support your body including a nice lumbar support.
Now, hop over into my Grandma Gladys’s 1957 Chevy. Great car! Big solid rear-wheel drive, huge hard baked enamel and metal steering wheel, large hard pleather bench seat that you have to work at just to stay behind the wheel and not slide across every time you take a turn a little too sharply, never mind the rigid nature that forces you into a very upright Oates Military Academy seated position of attention...
Huge difference between ‘sitting’ in 1957 and being supported in a pseudo-seated position in 2010.

So, getting to the point.
As I see it, there are 7 (maybe 8 if you are looking for extra credit) human movements. These are not just movements of a joint, but rather basic human movements that are needed for healthy human existence.

Push, Pull, Squat, Lunge, Flex, Extend, Twist

(bonus prize if you can guess what may be the 8th movement)

For each of the next 7 (maybe 8) weeks we will focus on each of the seven human movements.
This week we will start with ‘Push’.

Every hour that we are awake this week, we will do 1 push up.
Ideally we will do 1 every hour. If you have ‘circumstances beyond your control’, the HomeWork judges will allow you to catch up, before you go to bed, for hours that you missed.
So, if you get up at 5:30 and go to bed at 8:45, you would complete 16 push ups that day (15 for every hour and then one more for that extra 15 minutes).
Boy style, girl style, easy style, hard style, hands and toes, hands and knees, or however you desire...
Now, this will definitely not make you better, faster, stronger, but it will simply serve to give you a break from whatever you may be doing whether it is passive or active and get in touch with your inner ‘Push’...
The idea is not to be strict about type and/or quality of push up, just to ‘Push’!

Have a great week,
MRoss

P.S.
Whoever can tell me the 8th Movement that I am thinking of will get to assign the HomeWork for the 9th week!

-DrTri

HomeWork for 10/18/10

2010-10-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

So the DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork has been absent for a bit as you have most definitely noticed... With all the craziness around here (we are adding some really exciting things to the place!) you have been left to your own ‘devices’ to be self disciplined and follow the things that you know are good to do for your own Health & Fitness...

While I have complete faith that you have been doing a stellar job and have progressed well on your path of being fit and healthy, I still think we can all use a ‘return to basics’ every once in awhile. Just like the winning team’s coach when interviewed after the championship will invariably answer the question of “What did you do different this year?” with the answer of “Well, we decided to focus on the fundamentals and return to the basics!”

In that spirit, this week’s HomeWork is a very basic thing that we will do each and every morning immediately upon getting out of bed.

2 (kinda 3) things, actually...

1 & 2:
Perform 10 repetitions of the DrTri Daily Double.
Many of you have done this before, and if you are like me then you still do this every morning. I have expanded it into my meditation and morning ritual of dynamic warm up exercises, but you can simply stick with the two exercises together that I refer to as the “DrTri Daily Double”. These are Up Dog Down Dogs and Scorpions. Read the further description and video below.

3:
Immediately afterward, drink 16 ounces of clean pure water. Pretty straight forward.

This is a dynamic flexibility movement exercise to get your low back and hips activated and mobilized for the day.
Breathe in on the hips up in the air and breathe out on the hips down towards the ground. Breathe comfortably throughout.
Perform 10 repetitions of each part of the movement. 10 hips up and down, and 10 scorpions on each leg.
GO SLOW and controlled!
During the Up Dog Down Dogs, allow your hips to relax at the bottom and hang from your shoulders. On the way up, contract your abs.
For the Scorpions you can go straight up with the leg or cross-over leading with the toes towards the fingertips, depending on your comfort and personal flexibility...
Ideally, do this in a silent environment, so that you may also have a little time for your mind to be quiet before you jump into the day.

Here is a video that will show you exactly what to do:

Have Fun,
DrTri

DrTri / SODO CrossFit Endurance BootCamp

2010-10-16T18:35:00.001-07:00

It is that time again when we take the class back indoors (not by choice, but by weather and amount of light available...!) and that means we go back to getting up bright and early and getting our 80’s kick ass workout on at 06:00 at Lee’s Martial Arts in West Seattle!

This is an advance notice to you because you have taken class within the last year or so (or are just on the ‘special’ list, I guess!)

This will most definitely fill up because we are limiting it to 15 people. So check it out, look at your calendar, and then email and/or call Debbie in the office first thing Monday morning!

And! I am really excited about the Training Plan aspect. This is something that a few of you have had me do before and it really works well to plan out the schedule day by day including class.
When you sign up for the Training Plan program, email me directly so that I can send you the 1-page advanced information sheet that you will need to fill out. This will further help define the specific parameters of what you need and make the plan work even better for you!

See you in class!

Here’s the details:

DrTri / SODO Crossfit Endurance Bootcamp* Begins Next Week!

Thursday mornings at 6:00AM for the next 10 weeks. Only $110 for all 10 class sessions.

Class limit is 15, so contact Debbie in the office at #932-7943 or debbie@drtri.com to save your spot.

Dates: October 21, 28; November 4, 11, 18, 24 (Weds due to Thanksgiving); December 2, 9, 16, 23.
Lee’s Martial Arts, 3270 California Ave SW in West Seattle on the 2nd floor.

Bring a bottle of water and a towel because you will get a good sweat!

*Crossfit Endurance: Combines Crossfit methods, traditional strength & conditioning techniques, Endurance Conditioning Exercises, and good old-fashioned group camaraderie with awesome 80’s music to create an intense workout that accommodates all fitness levels. Our goal is to make you stronger and less injury-prone for your daily life (whether that is running a marathon, lifting a barbell or lifting groceries).

PLUS!
Jumpstart Your New Year’s Resolution

Set and meet your health goals with a SODO CrossFit Endurance Training Plan. $125 for a 60-minute one-on-one session to assess your current status, create health & fitness goals, and then measure your improvement at the end of 10 weeks.

Ideally this is in conjunction with the SODO CrossFit Endurance Bootcamp, but not necessary.

The SODO CrossFit Endurance Training Plan includes:

· Body Composition Analysis: to measure your body fat/ lean ratio to set an ideal weight and body fat goal

· Calculation of your Metabolic Rate: to measure the number of calories that you burn at rest and during exercise.

· Functional Screening & Fitness Evaluation: to assess your biomechanics and key factors of fitness and functional strengths to evaluate your risk of injury.

· Custom Daily Nutrition Plan: based upon the results of your body composition analysis and calculation of your metabolic rate.

· 10-week Personal Workout Calendar: including the weekly CrossFit Endurance BootCamp into a calendar with personalized daily workouts for you to follow.

· Follow-up assessment: after 10 weeks to evaluate and measure how far you have gotten to achieveing your goals!

Contact Debbie today to schedule your Baseline Assessment appointments at #932-7943.

Sign Up for both and receive a $25 discount.

Only $210 for a complete 10-Week Workout and Training Plan package!

-DrTri

Basic BioMechanics, Fulcrum, & Back Pain HomeWork for 9/14/10

2010-09-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

This is the follow-up to the last post and determining your "Biering-Sorensen" number. What was it? Biering-Sorensen (1984), and numerous others since then, have found that the 'magic' or optimal number is 4 minutes. When the subject was able to sustain the isometric hold out flat for 4 minutes or greater, their risk of developing back pain for up to a year following was significantly reduced.

This is a tremendous finding!

With only practicing a simple exercise and only being able to do that simple exercise for 4 minutes, one can significantly reduce their risk of getting back pain.

Think about that... If you were to ask anyone with acute back pain, which so many of us have had, if they would trade their pain for only 4 minutes of their time, they would undoubtedly do it!

So, here is your further HomeWork:

Practice the Biering-Sorensen Test and get to the point where you are able to sustain the test for 4 minutes or greater. Here's a solid plan to do that.

Every other day,

hold out flat for as long as you can,

rest for 60 seconds,

then hold out flat again for as long as you can.

As i have stated, this is what the years of research has found is the first and most important step in preventing the occurrence of low back pain!

For those of you who would like to know "why" this works, keep reading. For everyone else, enjoy your 'practicing' of this endeavor. I warn you, it is NOT easy, and it may take a couple months to achieve the 4 minute goal.

Here is the "why" of the Biering-Sorensen test:

First of all, in the true scientific method, we will never know absolutely "why". We simply apply a stimulus, measure and record the response, and then repeat until we have reduced error to about 2%. The scientific method does not attempt to explain why a certain response occurred when a certain stimulus was applied. That is left up to the philosophers or theoretical scientists. The beauty of this is that it eliminates opinion or conjecture from a scientific endeavor. The stimulus and response are simply measured and recorded. The results indicate pure empirical science.

Beyond that, with human biomechanics we can attempt to explain the 'why' of certain behaviors in the system because the kinesiologists, biomechanists, and physiologists have studied human function and can rationally theorize what is occurring.

In the Biering-Sorensen test, the endurance (or durability) of the functional human fulcrum is being tested. Here is an excerpt of a lecture I gave on how this works.

Notice in the excerpt from the lecture I am not referring to the 'core', but rather the 'fulcrum' (group) of the human body. On one hand, this is a matter of semantics, but on the other, it is an important distiction that needs to be made.
For years the Dogma of treatment for back pain has addressed the 'core'. And when examining the majority of 'core' exercises, they are primarily abdominal based exercises. That is all well and good, but there is no consistent research/data that shows that 'core'/abdominal exercises can prevent, treat, or predict the likelihood of, low back pain.

I have provided a complete list of references regarding the Biering-Sorensen test as well as fulcrum training previously, but if you would like that again, feel free to email me at ross@drtri.com.

Have a great week and good training on your Biering-Sorensen number!

MRoss

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork - Back again...

2010-07-19T05:22:00.000-07:00

Everyone seems to accept (based upon research and protocols) certain parameters/numbers for health and/or fitness.
Your blood pressure should be under 120/80.
Your cholesterol should be under 200.
Your BMI should be between 18.5 and 24.9.
You should brush twice per day, and floss once per day.
Your fasting blood sugar should be under 100.

All of these, and more, are goals to aim for in order to be able to sleep at night and not worry (too much) about your health. Hit these, and other, target numbers and you are doing a good job of “taking care of yourself” and can be assured that you are doing the best that you can in order to avoid disease and/or injury. And, there is some rough evidence and research to support this.
Speaking of injury and research, what about the Biering-Sorensen test?!?!?
“Huh?”, you say...
The Biering-Sorenson test determines your parameter/number that relates to your risk of back pain. And, there is a plethora of solid and specific evidence and research to support this! For those who are familiar with me in the ‘clinical sense’, this should be a review. For those of you who have never heard of Biering-Sorensen, listen up!
Just like the mentioned above numbers, there exists a very specific number that relates to your risk of acquiring back pain.
Dr. Stan Bigos, one of the leading researchers and experts on the subject of back pain, stated in 2000 that 98% of Americans will have an acute episode of low back pain by the time they reach age 50. Considering this, the Biering-Sorensen test might produce an extremely important number for you/us to be aware of.

A slight tangent for a moment (ala “Confessions of a Medical Heretic” style – Dr. Mendehlson).
Why is it that so few people have heard of the Biering-Sorensen test and yet it is the single most important number when assessing your risk for developing back pain?
(I have 46 different studies that have specifically investigated this and all agree).
In 1984, Biering-Sorensen took the entire population of Glostrup, Denmark (just under 1,000 people) and had them perform this specific test. From the number that they achieved, he was able to predict for up to a year following who would develop low back pain (yes, it was statistically significant for all you smart kids...).
Okay, this was HUGE! He won the Volvo Award for Excellence in Research and his work spawned 45 (so far) other studies.
So, again, why have so few people heard of the Biering-Sorensen test and yet it is the single most important number when assessing your risk for developing back pain?

I don’t know. Seriously, it seems crazy to me that something soooooo important is sooooo unknown to the majority of people. Especially those people who have already seen an ‘expert’ for back pain. If they are an ‘expert’, then shouldn’t they be current on the relevant research?
Is there some sort of back pain conspiracy? Is the ‘medical community’ purposefully not telling us in order to keep Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Spine Surgeons, and drug companies in business? Will there be a rock with a note tied to it telling me to “keep quiet about this” thrown through my office window tonight?

This is where I get off tangent and back on track:
What is your Biering-Sorensen number? In other words, what is your risk of developing back pain?
Your HomeWork this week is to find out.
Here is how you do that:
Get a firm edged bench that you can hang off the end of at your pelvic bone level.
Have a friend, significant other, co-worker, neighbor, or sack of potatoes hold down your feet and position yourself with the bony part of the front of your hips/pelvis on the edge of the firm edged bench. So this has roughly the top half of your body hanging off the edge of the bench.
Here is a drawing of what this looks like.
If you have a back extension bench you will be able to exactly mimic the drawing.
If not, then be creative and re-create the position as best as possible. A large exercise ball will NOT work as it is too soft and changes the forces that are put on the body.
You need a firm edged bench, or massage/physical therapy table.
Hold this position WITHOUT DROPPING OR SWAYING for as long as you can. And I do mean “as long as you can”.
Time how long you can maintain a flat out (perhaps slightly inclined) position.
This is your Biering-Sorensen number. From this you can determine your risk of developing low back pain over the next year.
That’s it!!

Write down that number.
In the next installment/HomeWork I will give you the ‘punchline’ and you can compare your number to what the scientific data says you should be able to do!

Have a great week,
MRoss

DrTri HomeWork for 6/27/10 - Hang on...

2010-06-28T05:47:00.000-07:00

As far as "survival" skills go, I am not sure if this week's HomeWork counts or not...

Speaking with a patient last week about the physical activity and/or functional fitness of children, I was reminded of small kids ability to hang on to an object. Specifically their ability to support their own body weight and hang from a bar. Talk about grip strength...

That conversation reminded me of the "Station 39 Olympics".

These were a few exercises that we did at Station 39 (the Fire Station where I work) years ago to test our unique physical talents and/or strengths. I say unique because we were attempting to find unusual feats that were fun as well as demanding. Hanging from a bar and "going around the table" were a couple of my personal favorites. I will go into detail about "going around the table" at a later date.

I somehow have a sense that the ability to hang on and support our own body weight might be a useful ability to have in case of some crazy emergency. Mt Rainer (insert the nearest appropriate volcanic mountain) erupts and a wave of lava cascades down through your neighborhood and your only escape is to hang form a tree branch and let the lava flow beneath you.

The question is, "can we hang on long enough for the lava to stop flowing and cool down enough to walk on it?"

I know this seems a bit ridiculous, so I will let you come up with your own survival scenario that includes hanging from an object for a length of time...

For this week, our HomeWork is to literally "hang on".

Find a pull-up bar (preferrably only a few inches higher than you) and see how long you can 'hang on', literally, to the bar with your feet off the ground. It doesn't matter what type of grip you use, or if you want to do pull ups while you hang their. Just as long as you hang form the bar and not touch the ground and/or do not pull yourself up and prop yourself on the bar. Simply using your hands to grip the bar, how long can you hang on?

Time yourself and write it down. We may do this again in a year and compare.

Have a great week hanging out,

MRoss

DrTri HomeWork for 6/20/10 - Product

2010-06-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

I am addicted to my gel.
Without it my hair has about 14 ‘cowlicks’ that make it stick all over the
place. Some might even say my hair has a certain Muppet appearance...
So, ever since junior year of high school (when I used Rob Steinmetz as an
example for hair care), I have used some sort of gel, greasy kid stuff,
and/or product in my hair. Many who knew me in college and grad school
would know that I have the fastest head fake/bob/avoidance behavior in the
west - whenever someone would go for a touch of the coiffed do... (A trick
I learned from Chris R.)
My newscaster hair set-up became very, very important to me.
Since then, I believe I have learned to not worry about “what my hair looks
like”... To a degree.
I still own 3 different types of hair ‘product’.
This causes me to wonder how many others have some sort of product
addiction/crutch that they use in order to be “presentable”.
What is it that you can not leave the house without wearing, or doing, or
fixing, on yourself?

So, for this week, we will get back to our basics...
Au naturale is the idea.
I challenge you to see how many days this week From Monday thru Saturday you
can go without wearing any form of ‘product’.
For many of us this will be a total piece of cake. For others, it will
prove quite challenging.
That means you can rinse off in the shower, and use ordinary soap for your
body. I would suggest to get the full effect you use a non-perfume,
non-additive, clear soap. No shampoo, no conditioner. No special ‘body
wash’.
Then when you get out of the shower, no gel, no hairspray, no mousse, no
make-up, no foundation, no lipstick, no gloss, no deodorant, etc. etc. No
product whatsoever (other than the very basic soap).
How about stepping it up a notch and removing any fingernail or toenail
polish?
Also, how about wearing no jewelry?

As I said, this will be an easy HomeWork to ace for some of us... For
others, it will be an exercise in really placing importance on how you feel
on a particular day as opposed to how you look?
Going “into the office” with no lipstick or no cool guy hair product might
seem unreasonable in the modern office jungle...

But, give it a try.

Have a great week,
M”Beaker”Ross

DrTri HomeWork for 6/16/10 Class and Backwards

2010-06-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

For you local people, the annual DrTri Outdoor Conditioning Class is starting up next week!

Well, I think we have waited for the “nice” weather long enough!
Let’s get started and just keep doing our sun dance (squats, lunges, etc.)
and hopefully the weather will cooperate.

For this summer season we will be following the format as previous years,
with some added bonuses.
The classes will be equally as challenging (if not more challenging and
kick-ass!).
We will be incorporating more CrossFit Endurance type exercises and formats.
It will be the “same old DrTri intense workout intervals” with some added
benefits!

In addition, I am very, very excited to announce that Ty Selfridge will be
coaching classes also!
Ty is a full-time Seattle Police Officer and coaches part-time. He is an
NSCA Strength & Conditioning Coach as well as a CrossFit Level I Coach.

Here is the official notice and schedule:

SODO CrossFit Endurance Conditioning Class (DrTri Class PLUS!)
Thursdays 6:30 pm
GasWorks Park, North Lake Union
June 24th – August 26th
$125
20 people max!

AND/OR

Tuesdays 6:30 pm
Jack Block Park, West Seattle
June 22nd – August 24th
$125
20 people max!

If you want to sign up for both, the total cost is $225 ($25 savings)

You know the drill. Contact Debbie in the office and sign up quick. This
class has a habit of filling up within a few days!
(there are already 12 spots taken, as of this email)
debbie@drtri.com or 206.932.7943

See you June 22nd at 6:30pm in the Parking Lot of Jack Block Park – and then
June 24th at 6:30pm in the parking lot of GasWorks Park,

P.S.
If you read this whole thing, here is your HomeWork.
This week you will have to do some math as well as something physical.
Here is the math:
Take your age, subtract it from 100, and now multiply by 25. This is your “number” for this week.
For example, if you are 40, then 100-40 = 60, 60 * 25 = 1500. Then your “number” would be 1500.

Now the physical piece:
Go somewhere flat and level and without much distractions. A large grass field or a track at a school or playfield would work best.
You are going to walk (slowly) backwards for your “number” of steps.
So for the above 40 year old, they would walk backward for 1500 steps.
As I said, ideally you will do this on a track or level grass field.
I don’t care if you go in a huge circle, or back and forth in a series of straight lines, as long as you get 1500 steps backwards.
(Most people have an average step of 1 yard or 1 meter, so 1500 is just under a mile.)

This actually will not take very long, and is easier than it sounds. The toughest part is keeping count.
But that is part of the HomeWork. Hmmm, focusing on a task and blocking out all other thoughts so that you don’t lose count.
Sounds a little bit like moving meditation...

Have a great rest of the week,
MRoss

Not for Sitting....DrTri HomeWork for 5/28/10

2010-05-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

I used to have a friend who when I went over to his mother's house, she would constantly remind us that the furniture in the formal living room was, "Not for sitting!" (never mind that it always had that weird "Grandma" plastic on it and would have been uncomfortable as all get out...)

Little did I know that she was absolutely right, but was a bit off in her coordinates. It is not the furniture that is not for sitting, it is the Ischial Tuberosities that "are not for sitting!"

In the 'western world' (up until recently) we were the odd ones who would rest our Ischial Tuberosities (Butt) on objects in order to rest, eat, poop, converse with others, and travel. However, this is not what our Butts are primarily designed to do functionally. Our Butts are the source of large muscles that are useful and primarily for many other functions besides resting our weary soft bodies. Butts are great for standing, squatting, lunging, running, cracking walnuts (Joe D.), lifting heavy objects off the ground, and last but not least, supporting our functions and activities through each and every day.

It seems dis-respectful to primarily use our Butts for such a heinous activity as sitting. So, the subject of this weekend's HomeWork.

No sitting for 24 hours. Period.

It is a 'holiday weekend' for most all of us, so this should be fairly easy to accomplish.

For one day (and night), over the weekend, you are not to sit on your Butt at all.

You are free to walk, squat, lean, and even lay flat. I specify lay flat because all cultures over the eons of existence have layed flat in order to sleep and so shall we. Only recently in human existence did people start sitting in chairs. Historically, mankind has squatted or rested upon a rock or on flat ground.

As an experiment for the HomeWork we are taking that one little step forward. We will not sit on any rocks, nor on flat ground.

If we are not sleeping while laying flat, we will stand or squat. Period.

And, for a list of studies that examine the ill-effects of sitting, check out the list below.

Have a great weekend,

MRoss

Katzmarzyk, P. T. et al. 2009. “Sitting time and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 41: 998-1005

Dunstan, D. W. et al. 2010. “Television viewing time and mortality: the Australian diabetes, obesity and lifestyle study (AusDiab).” Circulation 121: 384-391

Dunton, G. F. et al. 2009. “Joint associations of physical activity and sedentary behaviors with body mass index: results from a time use survey of US adults.” International Journal of Obesity 33: 1427-1436

Levine, J. A. et al. 2006. “Non-exercise activity thermogenesis: the crouching tiger hidden dragon of societal weight gain.” Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 26: 729-736

Levine, J. A. et al. 2005. “Interindividual variation in posture allocation: possible role in human obesity.” Science 307: 584-586

Conzett-Baumann, K. et al. 2009. “The daily walking distance of young doctors and their body mass index.” European Journal of Internal Medicine 20: 622-624

Hamilton, M. T., Hamilton, D. G. and Zderic, T. W. 2007. “Role of low energy expenditure and sitting in obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.” Diabetes 56: 2655-266

Pedersen, B. K. 2009. “The diseasome of physical inactivity — and the role of myokines in muscle-fat cross talk.” Journal of Physiology 587: 5559-5568

Olsen, R. H. et al. 2008. “Metabolic responses to reduced daily steps in healthy nonexercising men.” Journal of the American Medical Association 299: 1261-1263

Healy, G. N. et al. 2008. “Breaks in sedentary time: beneficial associations with metabolic risk.” Diabetes Care 31: 661-666

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork - Survival

2010-05-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

Survival.

Pretty much that is why we do a great deal of the things we do on a day-to-day basis. We avoid this; we don't eat that; we save; we exercise; we work to pay the heat bill so we survive through the night; we lock the doors; we wear our seatbelts... and so on.

What about when something REALLY bad happens?

Are you prepared to survive?

What does that mean?

Now, I am not 'survivalist' and neither am I an 'alarmist', but it seems to me that there should be some basic measures we should all be able take in event of an 'emergency'.

For example, the power went out in my neighborhood the other morning (a miniscule emergency in the grand scheme of things) and I thought about whether or not I would be prepared if the power went out for days or weeks instead of a couple hours.

With the social climate around the world (not to mention the car bomb that was found in Times Square), it is not very hard to imagine some pretty crazy types of emergencies occurring.

Over the coming weeks and months the HomeWork, from time to time, will focus on certain aspects of survival and emergency preparedness. Not to raise any level of paranoia, but rather just exercises and activities to raise awareness.

So, this week's HomeWork is based upon that idea of survival preparedness.

With Opening Day yesterday, this week's theme will be water.

In the comedic words of Bill Cosby's "Noah" routine, "How long can you tread water?"

This week, our HomeWork is to tread water for 5 minutes. There are many reasons why this is a great skill to have. You have a boat. Your friend has a boat. Your child takes swim lessons. You go on a cruise. Flood. You drive on a bridge, often or not. You go swimming and get a cramp in your foot. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Now, I don't recommend EVERYONE jumping into a lake or the ocean. But rather, find a swimming pool (with a lifeguard - just in case) and see how long you can tread water up to 5 minutes. If, in the last year, you have ever done a triathlon or swam farther than 1 mile at a time, then I raise the bar for you and suggest you try to tread water for 10 minutes.

This is just one step in the awareness of what your level of 'survival traits/skills' are in case of emergency.

Have a great week,

MRoss

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork - Spring Cleaning!

2010-04-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

With Spring upon us (hopefully for good now...), it seems like a great time to do some ‘spring cleaning’!

One day this week (or two if you are an experienced ‘spring cleaner’ - I will explain), we are going to clean up our diet 100% and therefore clean out our systems a bit...

Choose a day to only eat fish and greens. Nothing else.
For the entire day, the only things we will be eating are fish, tuna or salmon, and cooked greens, kale, broccoli, chard, broccolini, brussel sprouts, etc. etc.
You are free to prepare either any way you would like. As long as the only ‘other’ ingredients you use are olive oil, coconut oil, pepper, fresh garlic, and/or sea salt.
Also, ensure that you are eating only fish and no sodium pyrophosphate, or other added ingredients to the can of fish. I would suggest that you eat only fresh fish, but if you must eat either out of a can, then double check the ingredients!
No Tilapia. The omega-3 to omega-6 balance is not ideal in Tilapia.
Also, just to be clear, no added sauces or flavorings or other ingredients!

AND, no coffee, no alcohol, no other drinks, no snacks, no chips, etc. etc. etc. etc.

Yes, we will be eating this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I usually make up a big batch and carry it with me through the day and graze out of my trough whenever I feel hungry.

Other than the above greens and fish, we will also be drinking a certain amount of water on this ‘Spring Cleaning’ day.
Here’s the formula:
Very Active people:
Determine your body wt in kg (lbs divided by 2.2). Add 20 ounces to this number and you have the ounces of water to drink. (For Example: DrTri = 90 kg + 20 = 110 oz of water).
This is for people who work out at least 6 times per week.

All others:
Determine your body wt in kg (lbs divided by 2.2). And you have the ounces of water to drink.
(For Example: Steve = 80 kg = 80 oz of water)
This is for people who work out 3-4 times per week.

Please continue to take all medications, etc. as normally prescribed by your doctor.

In order to be classified as an experienced ‘Spring Cleaner’, you must have done a ‘full on’ cleanse for at least 3 days in the last year. For these people, we will be following the above regimen for 2 days.

Have a great week,
MRoss

P.S.
If you have any health or dietary concerns or issues, please consult your physician before undertaking any (including the above) changes in your diet and/or exercise.

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork for 3/28/10

2010-03-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

Many apologies for the absence of HomeWork for the last couple weeks.
It has been crazy busy around here (some exciting new things coming down the
pike in the next few months!!!) and I have been remiss at getting HomeWork
emailed...
So, in order to get us back on track, an easy/review this week.

We are re-igniting the “Take Back 4:20 Club” this week.

So, for those of you who are new to our “Take Back 4:20 Club”, here is the
deal. I am not judging any club that has a particular activity around this
particular time... I just thought it was a cool idea to organize a lot of
people to engage in some sort of activity at the same time “around the
world”. And since I don’t partake in any activity that is regularly
scheduled for this time, I thought it would be fun to see who else wanted to
join me in physical activity at this particular time each day!!
(If you happen to already belong to a club/group that celebrates 4:20 with
your own special activity, that is cool. Being in this 4:20 club does not
exclude nor preclude you from being in any other 4:20 club/group – I am sure
you can multi-task..)

Every day at 4:20pm we will do 1 minute of physical activity. It can be
whatever you want: push, pull, lunge, squat, flex, extend, twist, push-ups,
walk, sit-ups, sex, run, swim, bike, pull-ups, etc. etc.
This is just a fun way to break up the monotony of a day and help with
staying healthy and fit.
We all have set our watches/alarms (138 of us, so far...) to go off at
4:19pm so that we have a minute to get ready, pull over the car, get out
from behind our desk, etc. so that we are ready for 1 minute of activity at
4:20!

Have a great week and I will think of you all at 4:20 pm each day,
MRoss

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork for 3/9/10

2010-03-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

Chores...?

I am not sure if there is a direct correlation, but I am sure there is something to be said about the relationship between health and fitness and ‘having to do chores’ everyday, especially at zero dark thirty (or before the cows are up).

Seems like you could draw some sort of relationship between doing chores and health/fitness.

About the time we started to get all fancy and industrialized (and subsequently had less ‘daily chores’) we also started to get more and more unhealthy and unfit.

So, let’s turn back the clock.

For the next 7 days, our HomeWork is to re-enact the daily physiological demand of light to medium chores.

That translates, for our use, into 5 minutes of vigorous activity before the cows and sun come up.

Each morning before dawn, get on your rowing ergometer, put on your shoes and head out for a vigorous walk, get on your treadmill, do push up and sit ups non-stop, or whatever you need to do in order to be vigorous for 5 minutes...

I define vigorous as getting your heart rate up above 60% of your max heart rate...

A very, very rough way to estimate this is:

220 (beats per minute) minus age = maximum heart rate.

Maximum heart rate multiplied by the intensity level = target heart rate.

For example, a 50-year-old woman exercising at 60% maximum would use the following calculation:

220 - 50 = 170 (maximum heart rate)

170 X 60% = 102 (minimum target heart rate)

So, she would want to get her heart rate above 102 for 5 minutes.

In other words, she will be sweating and puffing!!!

If you really want to do well on this, make sure your activity is OUTSIDE. Rain, snow, or shine, the chores needed to be done. The cows were not going to milk themselves, sonny! A vigorous walk around the neighborhood would work perfectly...

Otherwise, all you really have to do is get up about 5 minutes earlier and do some sit ups, lunges, push-ups, etc. etc. beside your bed. Heck, you could easily do this before "the kids get up"...

Have a great rest of the week!

MRoss

HomeWork, not yet... #2 Top Ten Worst Exercises Ever!

2010-03-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

So this week's HomeWork is on it's way... Look for it tomorrow.

In the meantime, we have a second installment of "Top Ten Worst Exercises Ever..."

Actually today's installment is more of a Exercise Training Practice rather than a specific individual exercise.

The Practice that ranks up there as being horrible, terrible, and downright dangerous is most often associated with youth athletics. I have seen a great number of pre-teen and teen athletes who are fast tracked right into their sport and end up in my office with an injury. I have seen it commonly across the spectrum of sports, whether it is girl's, boy's, softball, soccer, football, baseball, etc. etc.

To back up for a second, the general rule of exercise and sports is to go through a specific progression. This progression goes:

Technique Training

then

General Strength/Conditioning Training

then

Sports Specific Training.

It is very definite and specific to that order of progression. Any variation from this, i.e. putting General Strength/Conditioning before Technique Training will result in a significant increased risk of injury.

If an athlete can not squat with great form, then they have no business loading up a bar and doing squats for a workout.

The same example applies to General Strength/Conditioning. If a young athlete can not lunge with great form in a controlled environment like a workout room, and therefore can not lunge in that same controlled environment with mild to moderate resistance, they have absolutely NO business lunging for a soccer ball out on the wet grassy field in the heat of competition.

The common practice of fast tracking pre-teens and teens directly into a sport without at least taking a year to progress them through the above progression is very dangerous and will often result in injury. The norm is injury and it is the exception when a young athlete avoids injury upon jumping right into the sport.

And yet, this is exactly what happens every year. Young athletes are put on the field of their sport and examined/critiqued/judged on their ability to push, pull, squat, lunge, twist, flex and/or extend with little or no training in Technique and or General Strength/Conditiong beforehand. Heaven forbid should they 'make the team' and have a busy schedule of daily practice and weekly games.

The worst part about this is that there are no longer 'seasons' to youth athletics. Historically there have been particular times of the year that were devoted to different sports. This gained the young athlete some advantage and opportunity for General Strength/Conditioning if only because they were swimming in the fall, playing basketball into the winter, and soccer into the spring. Or, if they were not playing other sports, they were able to take a significant period of time and practice Technique Training and progress to General Strength/Conditioning Training in preparation for their Sport Specific Training.

Now it seems as though each "sport" is year-round because of school sport, then select sport, then premier sport, etc. etc. As a result the young athlete is more and more specialized in their sport and is playing year round. Any attempt to take a step back is severely limited because now the athlete is part of a team that is counting on him/her to be present and ready to go for the sport and quite often "the Championship Game" in two weeks.

When injury does occur, the athlete is discouraged because they are forced to sit out of the game while the other athletes are enjoying their sport. At this point athlete/patient compliance is difficult because they are doing different things than their teammates. And as we know, not only with the youth athlete, keeping them motivated and their 'spirits up' is a significant portion of rehab from an injury.

So as difficult as it sounds, and as un-popular as this makes me, I implore you to ensure that your young athlete is properly prepared to engage in Sports Specific Training. This means that they have taken at least a year to progress through Technique Training and then through General Strength/Conditioning before hitting the field or court of their specific sport.

MRoss

10 lbs...Wow! DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork for 2/21/10

2010-02-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how a little bit, relatively speaking, can have a very big
effect. You know they say, “It’s the little things that count...”
I have numerous patients/athletes who are anxious to lean down and lose some
body fat and or weight. Commonly, they are impatient and/or dissatisfied
with a 5 or 10 lb loss when it happens over a period longer than a few
months. Of course, I reassure them, and point out the significant
physiologic changes that need to occur for a 10 lb fat loss. Nevermind that
if they are on an solid workout plan they are also gaining muscle mass and
as they (also) say, “...muscle weighs more than fat!...”

So, let’s try out how much 10 lbs really is.
Your HomeWork for the remainder of this week is for one complete day to lug
around an extra 10 lbs (plus or minus).
Pick a day, any day between now and Sunday, and for the entire 24 hours
carry a ten pound dumbbell, medicine ball, etc. etc. And I mean carry it
with you EVERYWHERE! If you get up in the middle of the night to pee, carry
that weight with you. During the day toss the weight into a backpack and
lug it around while you go about your business.
If you absolutely cannot find a 10 lb dumbbell or medicine ball or something
of the like, then fill a gallon jug with water and carry that around instead
(about 8.5 lbs). How about wearing it while you go through your normal
workout?!?!?
Those of you who have been pregnant will have a sense of deja vu with this
HomeWork. Those of us who never have will have an extra appreciation for
them. And, we can all realize the extra burden of an extra 10 lbs of dead
weight on our body. Police officers carry around an extra few pounds with
them for up to 24 hours, and they have to deal with the often difficult
public, and ‘chase bad guys/gals’. This will help us appreciate them more
also?!?!?

Have an interesting and fun experience with this and see how well you can
carry it with you EVERYWHERE!

Have a great rest of the week,
MRoss

Top Ten Worst Exercises Ever! #1

2010-02-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

This is the first installment in my "Top Ten Worst Exercises Ever".

Over the next weeks to a couple months I will be counting down (or up, or in no particular order) the Ten Worst Exercises that I see people doing or have actually done myself over the years. Once the list is complete then I will rank them from worst to absolute worst.

So, with no further adieu, today's installment.

#1 - The Hip Sled.

Unless you are in the NFL or make your living locking your low back into an awkward position and then violently extending your legs against a flat object, then stay the hell away from this device.

Here is a photo:

Normal and healthy human movement of the squatting and/or lifting variety includes complete and coupled activation of the ankles, knees, hips, and low back/pelvis. This is what we would call effective balanced training of the Fulcrum and Lever Arms of the lower half of the body.

The Hip Sled eliminates complete activation of the hips and low back/pelvis. The legs get stronger with increased activation and functional mobility while the hips and low back/pelvis are severely limited in their activation and functional mobility. This results in stronger, more durable, and more functional legs with weaker, less durable, and less functional hips and low back/pelvis.

And, as we know, we are only as strong/fit/durable as our weakest link. The hip sled further enhances weakness of our low back (relative to our legs). Basically, our Fulcrum ends up weaker than our lever arms.

Bottom line this weakens your low back. Awesome!...Not.

I blame the "Biggest Loser" for re-introducing a machine that was hopefully on it's way out of the common people's workout arena.

I think it is safe to say that most trainers that prescribe this machine are getting their training tips from the "Biggest Loser". Great Coaching!...Not.

So go out there and see what else you and your trainer can come up with besides using this item in the list of the Worst Exercises Ever.

Have a great week! It is Tabata Week in my world!

MRoss

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork for 2/14/10

2010-02-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

So this week’s HomeWork is to spend 4 minutes one or two days this week improving your Cardiovascular fitness (specifically your VO2Max). We all know the benefits of improved cardiovascular fitness... Right?
Let me share two:
Improved quality of life
Decreased risk of Heart Disease

The list goes on, and can be very technical and specific, but suffice it to say the above two reasons should be reasons enough!

Dr. Izumi Tabata found that VO2 Max can be very effectively improved with the inclusion of a specific 4 minute routine (now termed the “Tabata Protocol”) into a person’s training/workout program. Including the warm-up and cool down it is about 11 minutes.

If you have done a Tabata Protocol within the last 6 months, then you will get to do it twice this week. Ideally with at least two days of rest in between.
If it has been longer than 6 months, then you will get to do the Tabata Protocol once this week.
If you have never done it, then you will get to do the Scaled Version.

Here we go:
Full Tabata Protocol-
5 min warm up.
8 sets of 20 seconds max effort followed by 10 seconds of complete rest.
2 min warm/cool down.

Scaled Version-
5 min warm up.
8 sets of 20 seconds moderately high effort followed by 10 seconds of complete rest.
2 min warm/cool down.

Done.

So, what do I do during the 8 sets of 20 seconds of effort?

Pick a favorite exercise. My favorite with this is plain and simple ‘air squats’. I suggest you do the same.
Air squats are simply standing in one position with your feet comfortable solid stance apart and doing a squat down as far as comfortably possible with excellent form. It is best to reach up and overhead as you squat down to maintain form as well as stay balanced. Make sure your heels do NOT come off the floor, and in fact, ensure that most or all of your weight is on your heels, with your chest up and out, flat back, knees over/not beyond your shoelaces. GO as fast as you possibly can. This will ‘smoke you’!

If you are doing the Scaled Version, you can simply go out for a walk. Walk comfortably for 5 minutes to warm up, and then for the intervals walk AS FAST AS YOU CAN. Then stop for ten seconds, ‘shake it out’, then GO! again and again until you have completed all 8 sets.

Have fun! and have a great week,
MRoss

DISCLAIMER:
If you have any questions, concerns, prior medical history, or anything else related to health, fitness, and/or cardiovascular difficulties then consult your doctor (in person) before attempting this!

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork for 2/8/10

2010-02-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

Hold everything ...except the food.

As a society it seems as though there has been a great loss of the sense of taste. We have been so inundated with seasonings, dressings, condiments, flavorings, sugars, sauces, etc. etc. that we have greatly reduced the actual taste of food. Don’t even get me started on high fructose corn syrup and the ruining of taste buds across all ages. For a lot of us who have reduced or eliminated HFCS in our diets over the last few years, the damage is still being recovered from. Three years of different behavior does not even come close to un-doing the 20, 30, or 40 years of damage.

Many people are currently using an example of ‘being out in the wild’, and asking, “How would you eat?”. These people would suggest that we would not have seasonings, salt, pepper, dressings, etc. etc.

I am not totally sold on this way of operating and eating. We don’t live in the wild and I am not sure I want to emulate that (irregardless of how much of a reality it will or will not become) way of eating.
However, it is an interesting question as to how have we lost the ability to enjoy simply food. Without all the ‘make-up’ and accoutrements....

That is our HomeWork this week.
No seasonings, dressings, condiments, flavorings, sugars, sauces, etc. etc.
If you must use some sort of oil for cooking that is okay (and might I suggest Coconut Oil, and/or Olive Oil as a close second), but otherwise not a drop or shake of anything else.

That means ‘dry’ chicken breast, boring pasta, and/or bland vegetables for some of you who are VERY dependent on extras to improve the taste of your meals!

This should prove to be a very interesting 5 days. For one thing, it will make us change our choices of what we are going to eat if we can not ‘dress it up’.

Have a bland, boring, and great week!
MRoss

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork for 1/25/10 - Overhead...

2010-01-25T05:09:00.001-08:00

Overhead?
Not the price of doing business, but rather the act of reaching overhead...
I am convinced that one or some of the physical ailments that afflict modern human beings could be resolved if we simply ‘reached overhead’ more often. I often see people, even very active people, that because they spend the majority of their day with their head and shoulders looking down or slightly downward (reading, typing, texting, driving, etc.), they have lost significant range of motion in their shoulder joints and often times neck. Great for my business. Bad for their physical state.
I know a few people who have difficulty doing anything over their head, such as painting or working on a light fixture, for even a few minutes. Their hands start going numb and/or they get pain in their hands or forearms.

SO, that is why this week’s HomeWork is to reach overhead once per hour for every hour that you are awake.

Here’s what we are going to do:
If you regularly workout (or are trying/want to), and by that I mean at least 4 times per week, then you will do a weighted Wide Squat to Overhead Reach (see below for specifics) with between 4 – 6% of your body weight.
(For a 150 lb person that would be 6-9 lbs, for a 200 lb person that would be 8-12 lbs).
Because we are doing this EVERY HOUR, I would error on the light side.
If you are not currently on track with working as often as you SHOULD, then you will simply do a Wide Squat to Overhead Reach (see below) with no weight.
And, I will let your ambition and motivation be your own personal guide this week.

If you are ‘feeling your Wheaties’ this week, you will do this everyday.
If you are not having a great week already (I might suggest that this would make it better), then we will allow you to do this only two days this week. So, right now! plan/decide what two days you are going to do this.

And perhaps you can get the other people in your ‘office’ to join in every hour when you stand up from your desk and Wide Squat to Overhead Reach.

It is not that hard, especially since kids, animals, and classic farmers do this everyday at least a couple hundred times!

Here is a video of how to do the Wide Squat to Overhead Reach-
For Apple people:
www.drtri.com/video/widesquattoreach.m4v

For the rest of you:
www.drtri.com/videos.html
(It is in the center column, exercise #38)

Have a great week!
MRoss

DrTri's Thoughts on Winter Multi-Sport Training

2010-01-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

Winter is an important piece of the overall ‘periodization’ (big picture) plan and training that goes along with endurance sports. I would suggest that it is the most important piece of the overall plan. Here’s why:

In the NorthWest, the winter corresponds to the off-season from racing and competing for most of us. In my 15 years of coaching and clinical experience, I have seen that the off-season is the most difficult season for endurance athletic individuals to get correct.

During the ‘pre-season’ and into ‘race-season’ it is pretty straight forward, run, bike, swim, eat, sleep, poop, repeat. Usually incorporating some sort of progressive increase in volume from the pre-season into the races, and peaking with volume for a particular “A”-race. Yes, during this time there is also a relatively small portion of time spent cross-training and doing injury prevention exercises, etc. But for the most part, run, run, run, bike, bike, bike, swim, swim, swim... This is the period of the year, I refer to as “Lever Arm Training”.

The counterpart to the “Lever Arm Training” is “Fulcrum Training”. Which is very different than “core” training, a term that I dislike/hate, and from the countless number of injured patients/athletes that come into my office, has not really done much in the way of preventing injuries and/or improving fitness/performance. If “core” training did work, then the occurrence of back, hip, knee injuries would be decreasing and not remaining steady or increasing like they are. Seems like every coach, therapist, etc. has their own ideas about some fancy “core” training. But, all of them seem to break down to fancy abdominal exercises.

The functional mechanics of any machine can be broken down into simply a series of fulcrums and lever arms. The lever arms act upon and transmit force to the fulcrum which then causes movement to occur. The exact same thing is at work in the human body. The bio-mechanics are broken down into four major lever arms (two arms and two legs) which act upon (swim, bike, run) and transmit force to the major fulcrum(s) (back, hips, shoulders, knees) and cause movement. And, as in any machine, the most durable pieces NEED to be the fulcrums. They are supporting the weight of the lever arms plus the forces that are applied to the end of the lever arms. With running we know that the amount of force transmitted through the legs to the body (read that as through the lever arms to the fulcrums) is about 5-7 times body weight. That is a lot of force that needs to be trained for in order to withstand this for a mile, a 5K, a 10K, 13.1 miles, 26.2 miles, or beyond.

Another key factor in all of this is something called the SAID principle in exercise physiology. This stands for Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. Basically, specificity of training! So in order to train the fulcrums specific to endurance activities, you have to train the fulcrums. Seems like I repeated myself here, but I did not. Training the abs with fancy core exercises DOES NOT train the fulcrums of the human bio-mechanical machine. Period. Science doesn’t lie.

Also, we know that you cannot effectively simultaneously improve the functional fitness/durability of the lever arms and fulcrums at the same time. Simply put, you cannot be in two places at the same time. The best that you can hope for is to maintain the fitness of one while training the other. So when you train to improve the durability of the fulcrums you can only maintain the aerobic capacity of the lever arms OR you can train to improve the aerobic capacity of the lever arms while only maintaining the durability of the fulcrums. Period. Science doesn’t lie.

So what does that mean for the overall big picture of training and specifically the winter/off-season training plan?

It means that during the winter, the focus and overall majority of training should be devoted to specifically improving the durability of the fulcrums. The idea of building up and training into ‘base miles’ detracts from the focus, time, and specificity of fulcrum durability training. Building base miles, and ignoring the specific needs of the fulcrums, further improves the aerobic capacity of the lever arms and puts the bio-mechanics out of balance and increases the risk of injury months down the road during the pre and race-season. Remember, the fulcrums need to be more durable than the lever arms. Not the other way around.

Here is what my athletes (and I) do during the ‘cold and wet’ winter months…

True strength training, specifically focusing on the fulcrums, to include (emphasis is put on Olympic Lifting Movements that are multi-joint exercises):

Romanian Deadlifts

Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts.

Back Extensions

OverHead Squats

OverHead Lunges

Reverse Lunges

Single Leg Cleans

DumbBell Clean and Press

Many of these exercises are done on balance boards, single and both legs.

True Speed and Power work, both in the pool, on the track, and on the bike trainer. Also, numerous studies have shown, that high intensity interval training (i.e. Tabata workouts) improves VO2max much better than steady state long mileage training. One more de-bunking evidence of the winter base mileage idea.

Lots and lots of Plyometric Training. This is where I would insert a plug for the “DrTri Endurance Conditioning Workout DVD”.

Agility, balance, and coordination training. Similar to ball-sports (football, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, etc.) training.

Overall a significant decrease in the volume with a significant increase in the intensity of the training. During the winter, no workout is longer than 1 hour. And most of the workouts are time based with short intervals (45 seconds, for example).

Have a great week and rest of the winter!

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork for Jan 17, 2010

2010-01-16T19:47:00.001-08:00

Many personal coaches and ‘experts’ tell me to find a successful path that someone else has taken and model/reproduce it.
Basically, do not try to re-invent the wheel, but rather learn from the triumphs of others and reproduce those in my life.
Sounds like a great idea, so let’s give it a try this week!

Your HomeWork is for three of the days this week, copy the workout/exercise/activity of someone who you would like to be more similar to in health and/or fitness.

For example, if Ty is going to do a :45 min run on Tuesday, I am going to do a :45 min run on Tuesday. Not necessarily with him, I am going to do it alone, and at my own pace.
I am not going to try and copy his workout at the same pace, weight, or intensity, I am merely going to do the same workout for the same time and the effort level will be relative to my current fitness. So if Ty is doing a fast :45 min run, I am not going to do a slow :45 min run, I am also going to do a fast :45 min run. Fast for me may be a different speed than fast for him, but the effort level will be the same – relatively speaking.
So, I need to get in touch with Ty and ask him what are 3 of his favorite workouts that he will be doing this week. Your HomeWork is to do the same with your goal person!

Have fun! and have a great week!
MRoss

Food, again...

2010-01-10T19:28:00.000-08:00

This week’s HomeWork is about food again...
(and maybe control...)

HOWEVER, this is a good food! Your favorite food...
(no not gluten-free pizza, Phil, Erin, Kim, Mitch, Dallas, and Debbie...HA!)

It truly is YOUR favorite junk-food, ideally some sort of candy or chocolate
or chip.
But not ice cream (you’ll see why)
Between now and tomorrow evening (so sometime on Monday), we will buy a new
bag/box/bar of our favorite junk-food/chocolate/candy/chip.
And I mean your FAVORITE and that means it is probably the WORST for you!
(This includes Sandy and Alan and any other Zen master’s who have embraced
their own right to higher health and vitality and no longer ponder such
pedestrian ideas of food)
Some junk-food & food-like substance that, for you, falls into the “bet you
can’t eat just one” category from that 70’s chip commercial.

Don’t eat it (yet)...

Just go purchase at least a 2 or 3 full serving size (for those of you who
buy a mini/bite size candy bar, go crazy and buy a FULL SIZE bag/bar!)
amount.

And await further instructions to arrive in your email tomorrow evening.

Talk to you then,
MRoss

P.S.
For those of you who are local, I have added a 2nd Winter Endurance
Conditioning Class. The first class filled up in about 6 hours.
It will be Thursday mornings (and 1 Friday morning due to a schedule
conflict), 6:00-7:00 am, Jan 14th – Mar 4th = 8 sessions, $90.
This class is about half full already, so let Debbie know ASAP if you want
to join us!

Class 2 Added to the Winter Endurance Conditioning Class

2010-01-09T05:39:00.000-08:00

Class 1 filled up in about 6 hours so we added a second Class on Thursday mornings 6:00-7:00wm, Jan 14th - Mar 4th, 8 sessions, $90.
Same place, Lee's Martial Arts in West Seattle, 320 California Ave SW.

www.drtri.com/class (or www.drtri.com/class.html if your browser is picky)

Call or email the office to sign up, ASAP!

2010 and "Control"...

2010-01-03T17:05:00.001-08:00

Hello and welcome to the “future”,

For our first HomeWork of 2010 (is it a new decade or not...?) we will not
talk about resolutions, but rather gaining control of your life, health,
and/or fitness. In fact, this will be the undercurrent for all HomeWork of
2010 – taking control of your life, health, and/or fitness.

The first way in which we are going to do this is to be the one who decides
how much you eat. We want to be in control of how much and what we put into
our body. Not be a victim of someone else’s whims, measuring cups, or
marketing ideas. If you want to overeat, you should decide that. If you
want to under-eat, you should decide that. If you want to eat healthy, you
should decide that. If you want to eat like crap, you should decide that.
You get the idea.
When going out to dinner, the portion size is completely arbitrary...
It is not designed for you. It is a random amount that the chef decided to
plop onto your plate.
And, why the 1/4 Pounder?!?!? Why not the 3/8 Pounder? Or the 5/8 Pounder?
The spelt and cornmeal pizza crust that I buy to make homemade wheat free
dairy free pizza is a certain size based upon packaging and marketing.
There is no relationship to how much Michael Ross wants or needs to eat.
This, and, many other portion sizes are dispensed in the same quantity
regardless of who is ordering them. At 198 lbs (and burning 4000 cal per
day) it would make sense that I might receive a different size portion than
Debbie, in the office, who probably weighs under 120 lbs (and burning about
2000 cal per day).

So, the HomeWork for this week (and perhaps beyond) is to purposefully
finish your meals with a small amount of what ever portion you have received
on your plate.
Regardless of whether you are eating at McDonalds, Canlis, or at home.
Leave about a half a cup or so...
If after 15 min you are still hungry, then you can eat more, order more, or
go get your leftovers out of the refrigerator.
This will bother those of us who feel a certain need ‘to clean our plate’.
Get over it. Your health is more important than appeasing some ghost of
parents or grandparents threatening to make us sit at the table until our
brussel sprouts are all gone. And if it really bothers you that much, I
would be glad to package it up and send it to some starving little kid in
some far away 3rd world country.
For some of us, this might help lose a pound or two that we needed to lose.
For the rest of us, it will give us an even better appreciation for how much
we actually ‘need’ to eat.
Either way we will decide how much we put into our body, and not be subject
to someone else’s idea of how much we should eat.

Happy New Year!

CrP Part II

2009-11-30T05:31:00.000-08:00

So, I forgot to mention WHERE to get your CrP tested. Sorry about that .
Any primary care physician will be able to draw your blood and have your CrP
checked.
So an MD, ND, DO, &/or a Nurse Practitioner of your choice.
For those of you in the Seattle area who do not have a primary care doc, Dr.
Cahn MD in Fremont is excellent.
On the eastside, Geoff LeCovin ND is excellent.

Have a great week,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 11/29/09

2009-11-29T14:40:00.000-08:00

I hope you had a chance to relax over the last few days and possibly reflect on “what you are thankful” for.... Perhaps you are thankful that you are smart enough to not end sentences in prepositions?!?!

Now that we are ‘back’, it is time to get back to work, specifically back to your Weekly HomeWork.

This week’s HomeWork (as promised) is to address your CrP.
CrP is a protein that is produced in your liver in the presence of “inflammation” in your system.
And, cool enough, there is more and more evidence that CrP is a better indicator of your risk of developing Heart Disease than LDLs, VLDLs, and/or HDL/LDL ratios...
The Framingham Heart Study ( http://www.framinghamheartstudy.org), and numerous others, found a higher incidence of heart disease in those individuals who had an increased CrP than in those people who had high levels of saturated fat in their diets. That is astounding data, considering that for years, and still today, ‘they’ advise us to lower our saturated fat intake to prevent heart disease.
A bit confusing until you think about it. The ‘experts’ are telling us that saturated fat is bad for our hearts. But, the evidence is saying that CrP is what we need to watch more out for. Solid scientific evidence does not lie, people do... Maybe not on purpose (settle down - conspiracy theorists), but the communication from the scientific evidence to the ‘experts’ and then out to us ordinary folk, can easily be distorted for many reasons - sinister as well as innocent.

For more discussion on CrP from the American Heart Association check out:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4648

Specifically for us, the HomeWork is to get your CrP tested.
From here, once you know your level of CrP you can decide if you need to take action to reduce it or not.
Which brings up the question, what raises or lowers your CrP levels...?

That will be the subject of next week’s HomeWork.

Step 1, get your CrP level tested, more specifically, your ‘high sensitivity CrP’ level.

Have a great week!
MRoss

CrP on hold, get your MOJO, locals class, etc....

2009-11-23T06:07:00.001-08:00

Happy pre-Thanksgiving Week!

Since this is a shortened week for the majority of us, there are some
changes and lots going on....

First, the regularly scheduled HomeWork (subject being CrP) for this week is
on hold until next week.
This week's new HomeWork is to get your Mojo on! Wait, before you put on
your M's jersey and hitch up your sleeve, do a ultra wide and deep squat,
and then point out to left field with your bat... This is not a HomeWork
about the Seattle Mariners...

This week your HomeWork is to download the GlobalMojo web browser or add-on
for FireFox (for us Mac users).

Here is an excerpt from Emily Hine about why to use this browser:

"GlobalMojo http://www.globalmojo.com; is a new charity-focused web
browser that shares 50% of our gross revenue with nonprofits and schools
chosen by each of our users. Today when you surf the web with your current
browser, you¹re generating revenue for some company when you search, buy
travel, and shop. But when you use the GlobalMojo http://www.globalmojo.com browser to do those things, you can redirect 50% of that revenue to the causes you support. If you currently use Firefox, we also have a Firefox add-on. GlobalMojo is free, because all of our
revenue comes from online companies like Orbitz, Yahoo, Expedia, Best Buy,
etc. GlobalMojo is built on the popular Firefox browser, which is fast, safe
and secure, so you can feel confident using it.
Our goal is to help nonprofits and schools by providing them with a free way
to use the Internet as a fundraising tool. As you can probably imagine, in
today's economic environment, most of these organizations are having a tough
time dealing with budget shortfalls, and could really use your help.
EVEN BETTER . . .
As a special promotion, for the month of December, we¹ll be donating 100% of
our gross revenue to nonprofits and schools! So when you are buying holiday
gifts or making travel arrangements, all of the revenue from your
transactions goes to the charity of your choice (and we have over 1.5
million charities to choose from!)"

I am using it and it is seamless with FireFox, and looks really good!

For those of you who are local and looking for a good workout on
Thanksgiving morning that benefits a good cause,
Lee's Martial Arts is holding a workout class from 8:30 to 10:00 am.
There will be 3 different instructors, each teaching a different section of
the class. The 3 sections are the warm-up and cardio aspect, the
conditioning aspect, and the warm-down and chi-qong aspect. I will, of
course, be leading the conditioning aspect.
It should be fun and similar to what 'my regular conditioning class' is,
just a bit different. I anticipate it being mildly to moderately
challenging and you will work up a good sweat!!!
Cost of admission is non-perishable food to be donated to the West Seattle
Food Bank.
That is Thanksgiving morning, 8:30 10:00am.
It will be a great workout and for a great cause! (speaking of causes, be
sure to read this week's HomeWork!)

AND, lastly, for those of you who are local, I am having a short course
class between Thanksgiving and the Christmas/Festivus/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Flying
Spaghetti Monster/Winter Break!
Dec 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 class at same time 6am, same place Lee¹s
Martial Arts, $75.
A two per week short course intensive to help justify whatever you plan on
eating over the Holidays. You can work off Thanksgiving, and pump up your
metabolism for Christmas cookies!
Call the office to sign up.
Call it a little 'kidney punch' / power boost before the Holiday break to
get ready for the Holidays and the New Year!
Again, I will limit the class size because we are inside, so call right now!

Phew! I think that is enough information for now!

Have a great week, a great time whatever you plan on doing on Thursday, and
get your Mojo globally, that is....

MRoss

OCS this week.... CrP next week....

2009-11-15T13:57:00.001-08:00

This week's HomeWork is a 2 part installment of TLA¹s...

TLA = Three Letter Acronyms

This week's TLA is OCS

OCS = Oral Cancer Screening

Here's the bottom line:
Your HomeWork this week is to make a regular 6-month check-up appointment
with a dentist (hopefully your current dentist) who will do a very quick and
very easy Oral Cancer Screening.
If you have a regular 6 month check-up coming soon, then call to make sure
that they are going to incorporate this into your regular appointment.
If you are due to make an appointment, then call and make it now and be sure
to specify that you want to make sure you are screened for Oral Cancer.
An Oral Cancer Screening should be a part of your normal 6-month check-up
anyway!!!
The dentist will probably either have a Velscope or and Identafi 3000. They
may have another machine/technique, and that is fine. As long as they
screen you!
If your dentist is not equipped to do this very simple screening find a
new dentist - period.

Here's the why:
(taken directly form the Oral Cancer Foundation website -
http://oralcancerfoundation.org/facts/index.htm)
Oral and Pharyngeal cancer kill roughly 1 person every hour 24 hours per
day.
Need more convincing?
Know why the death rate is so high?
Because it is routinely discovered late in it development. Often discovered
only after the cancer has spread (metastasized) to another area of the body.
A true story:
A teenage girl was seen by her dentist and the dentist noticed something
Œirregular¹ but let it go because this was a young healthy patient.
At a follow up 1 year later the teenage girl was referred to an oncologist
for oral cancer.
If a young healthy teenage girl can get oral cancer, so can you. Don¹t mess
around.
Getting screened with a Velscope or Identafi literally takes less than 5
minutes, and is part of a regular check-up.
Hmmmm 5 minutes vs. death....

Seems like an easy call to me.

Stay tuned for next week's TLA:
CrP

Have a great week,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 11/1/09

2009-11-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

Hola,
Como esta?

Ohayu,
Ogenki desu ka?

Hey,
Whaz up?

How many languages do you speak? Fluently?

The HomeWork for this week is to learn 8 words and one complete sentence
(longer than 3 words) in a language other than Spanish or French. And then
use them all at least once per day for the week.
The reason I eliminate Spanish and French is because those are the most
common languages that people I know took in high school, and still remember
bits and pieces.
The point of this HomeWork is to expand/exercise your mind a little and
learn totally un-familiar words.
I suggest:
Latin
Vietnamese
Japanese
Thai
Chinese
Russian

But, you can choose your own. Of course, we all will probably learn
“hello”, “goodbye”, “thank you”, “yes”, & “no”... But what are the other 3
that you will learn? And what sentence will you learn? How to order
something? Numbers? Directions of a compass?
It is up to you!

For some of you, I have extended the breathe through a straw for 3 minutes
each day. You can feel free to take on this HomeWork also, just remember to
‘do the straw’...
I am sure a lot of use could benefit from the straw 3 minutes a day, so if
you think that might be a good idea for you, and/or it was a challenge to
complete the 3 minutes a couple weeks ago, then you should also revisit the
3 minutes of straw breathing each day.

Have a great week,

Adios,

Ja mata,

Out,

MRoss

P.S.

Mitch passed along information that the Seattle Marathon and Half-Marathon
are desperately seeking Course Marshals.
Here is the original email:

Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:04:00 -0700
Subject: *** HELP!! *** HELP!! *** COURSE MARSHALS NEEDED FOR 2009 AMICA
INSURANCE SEATTLE MARATHON

Hello. I am pleading with each of you to find a way to be a course marshal
for the Sunday, Nov 29 Amica Insurance Seattle Marathon. I don't know how
many of you are runners or joggers. Even if you've never gotten in a race,
you know how difficult it is for a runner if traffic interferes with him or
her. Course marshals are highly respected and appreciated by runners. We are
extremely short handed this year (we need at least 150 volunteers and we
have less than 20 so far). The Seattle Police Department has put it this
way:

The race will not start unless there are course marshals at each position,
and the Seattle Police may cancel next year’s event! Simple as that.
Remember that the safety of runners and walkers is at stake.

If you are over 16 and need community service time, we can sure use your
help!

Please volunteer just 3 hours of your time. Ask your friends and associates
to help. And whether yes or no, please let me know by reply email. Thank you
so much.

We also need volunteers for our 5K race on Saturday Nov 28 from 7:30AM to
9:30AM. Thanks again!
Jerry A. Seals
SMA Board Member/Course Marshal Coordinator
Seattle Marathon Association
253-891-0413 (eve)
253-230-2595 (cell)
email: jerry.a.seals@boeing.com

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 10/11/09

2009-10-12T00:08:00.000-07:00

Breathe...
Simple enough. We do it everyday, normally somewhere around 23,040 times.
In and out, in and out, sometimes we even forget we are doing it, that is until we stop and realize we are “out of breath” and need to start again.
Just like many other things in life, something that we often take for granted.
So, this week’s homework is to experience our breathing for 3 minutes each day.
Here’s what we are going to do:

Get a normal sized straw. By ‘normal’, I mean an ordinary everyday straw that you used to drink a milkshake through (before you stopped that disgusting habit, of course).
Not one of those crazy big straws that you get with the Bubble Tea down at Uwajimaya, and not one of those cute skinny straws that you get two of in your Roy Rogers or Shirley Temple at the Spaghetti Factory. Just an ordinary ‘normal’ plastic straw.
I will have a box of them at my office on Monday for anyone who doesn’t have easy access to getting one.
Now, take the straw and cut it off about 3 inches long.
And for 3 minutes, once per day, every day this week, breathe through that 3” now mini straw.
Doesn’t matter when each day, and doesn’t matter if you want to try this more than once per day.
But you must do this continuously for 3 minutes each day.
Sitting in traffic might be a good time, or sitting down taking care of any type of business might also be a good time.

Have a great week,
MRoss

P.S.
I was given a disgusting package of Peeps (as a joke, of course)... And the comment was made that they are ‘gluten free’.
Phew! Am I relieved...
Anyway, I looked at the ingredients and recognized a name that I had just seen in my garage.
I took a couple photos of the Peeps and the other place I had seen the ingredient “Carnauba Wax’ and combined them together and included them here.
We all know how horrible Peeps are for us, but this is just plain silly that anyone would eat an ingredient that most people use on their car...
Luckily, they only contain ‘less than 0.5%’ according to the label.
How much is necessary to render Peeps inedible?
How much is necessary to be unhealthy or deadly?
If there was Heroin, yet ‘less than 0.5%’, would we still eat them?
Don’t even get me started on tartrazine (start with a Wikipedia search) or natural flavors....

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork for 10/4/09

2009-10-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

98% of Americans will have an acute episode of debilitating Low Back Pain by the time they reach the age of 50.
Virtually everybody....
Is it any wonder that so few people can reach the minimum standard on the Biering-Sorensen Test?!?!?
What was your number/time?
Are you ready for what the magic number is?
Drum roll.......

4 minutes.

Seems like an eternity to a lot of people.
Seriously, it is not. I have seen all types of individuals go from only being able to do a few seconds to easily doing 4+ minutes in only a matter of months.
Why would you/we not work to achieve this minimum standard? If the data says that you are guaranteed (well, 98% of you) of having debilitating low back pain, and that this simple test/exercise can prevent it. Then why not?!?!?
Ask anyone who has spent a week or more laid up, or missed a ski trip, or was not able to play with their kids, (insert your example here), if it is worth a few minutes every other day to prevent low back pain, and I am sure they would agree!
Look, we all (hopefully) brush our teeth, and most of us floss, EVERYDAY in order to prevent tooth decay.
Practicing the Biering-Sorensen test/exercise requires less than half the time of brushing (and flossing).

So that is your HomeWork for this week and BEYOND...
Every other day:
1 x max hold: Back Extension out flat
60s rest.
1 x max hold: Back Extension out flat
Done.

If you do this, it will be good for you, while being bad for my business. It will mean that your back will be more durable and less susceptible to pain/injury/dysfunction. Which will mean that you will need me less for low back pain. Thank goodness for ankle sprains, shoulder strains, roller blades, snowboards, and other wild activities to keep me in business (and pay my student loans...)!!!

When you have achieved 4 minutes consistently for at least 2 weeks, email me and I will share with you the research relating to what I call “Level 2” of the Biering-Sorensen test, actually more based upon the work of Alaranta and Luoto.

Have a great week,
MRoss

P.S.
For you Chiropractic fans, a 2005 study showed that when the low back/pelvis is “out of whack” (my terminology, not the study’s), and a resultant functional leg length inequality exists, the ability to perform the Biering-Sorensen test is reduced/impaired (Knutson GA, Owens E, 2005). Chiropractic decreases “out of whack-ness” (again, my teminology) and resolves functional leg length discrepancies. So, Yeah!, we are still needed from time to time to push start people, or tune them up, on their Biering-Sorensen journey!!!

DrTri Health & Fitness HomeWork for 9/27/09

2009-10-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone seems to accept (based upon research and protocols) certain parameters/numbers for health and/or fitness.
Your blood pressure should be under 120/80.
Your cholesterol should be under 200.
Your BMI should be between 18.5 and 24.9.
You should brush twice per day, and floss once per day.
Your fasting blood sugar should be under 100.

All of these, and more, are goals to aim for in order to be able to sleep at night and not worry (too much) about your health. Hit these, and other, target numbers and you are doing a good job of “taking care of yourself” and can be assured that you are doing the best that you can in order to avoid disease and/or injury. And, there is some rough evidence and research to support this.
Speaking of injury and research, what about the Biering-Sorensen test?!?!?
“Huh?”, you say...
The Biering-Sorenson test determines your parameter/number that relates to your risk of back pain. And, there is a plethora of solid (not rough) evidence and research to support this! For those who are familiar with me in the ‘clinical sense’, this should be a review. For those of you who have never heard of Biering-Sorensen, listen up!
Just like the mentioned above numbers, there exists a very specific number that relates to your risk of acquiring back pain.
Dr. Stan Bigos, one of the leading researchers and experts on the subject of back pain, stated in 2000 that 98% of Americans will have an acute episode of low back pain by the time they reach age 50. Considering this, the Biering-Sorensen test might produce an extremely important number for you/us to be aware of.

A slight tangent for a moment (ala “Confessions of a Medical Heretic” style – Dr. Mendehlson).
Why is it that so few people have heard of the Biering-Sorensen test and yet it is the single most important number when assessing your risk for developing back pain?
(I have 46 different studies that have specifically investigated this and all agree).
In 1984, Biering-Sorensen took the entire population of Glostrup, Denmark (just under 1,000 people) and had them perform this specific test. From the number that they achieved, he was able to predict for up to a year following who would develop low back pain (yes, it was statistically significant for all you smart kids...).
Okay, this was HUGE! He won the Volvo Award for Excellence in Research and his work spawned 45 (so far) other studies.
So, again, why have so few people heard of the Biering-Sorensen test and yet it is the single most important number when assessing your risk for developing back pain?

I don’t know. Seriously, it seems crazy to me that something soooooo important is sooooo unknown to the majority of people. Especially those people who have already seen an ‘expert’ for back pain. If they are an ‘expert’, then shouldn’t they be current on the relevant research?
Is there some sort of back pain conspiracy? Is the ‘medical community’ purposefully not telling us in order to keep Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Spine Surgeons, and drug companies in business? Will there be a rock with a note tied to it telling me to “keep quiet about this” thrown through my office window tonight?

This is where I get off tangent and back on track:
What is your Biering-Sorensen number? In other words, what is your risk of developing back pain?
Your HomeWork this week is to find out.
Here is how you do that:
Get a firm edged bench that you can hang off the end of at your pelvic bone level.
Have a friend, significant other, co-worker, neighbor, or sack of potatoes hold down your feet and position yourself with the bony part of the front of your hips/pelvis on the edge of the firm edged bench. So this has roughly the top half of your body hanging off the edge of the bench.
Here is a drawing of what this looks like.
If you have a back extension bench you will be able to exactly mimic the drawing.
If not, then be creative and re-create the position as best as possible. A large exercise ball will NOT work as it is too soft and changes the forces that are put on the body.
You need a firm edged bench, or massage/physical therapy table.
Hold this position WITHOUT DROPPING OR SWAYING for as long as you can. And I do mean “as long as you can”.
Time how long you can maintain a flat out (perhaps slightly inclined) position.
This is your Biering-Sorensen number. From this you can determine your risk of developing low back pain over the next year.
That’s it!!

Write down that number.
Next week I will give you the ‘punchline’ and you can compare your number to what the scientific data says you should be able to do!

Have a great week,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 9/13/09

2009-09-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

So not this last Ironman, but Ironman Canada 2008.
That is the subject and reason for this week¹s HomeWork. Specifically Matt Perkins.

Let me 'set the scene'...
I arrived in Penticton on the Weds afternoon before the Sunday race. I moved into the Flamingo Motel and set up camp, that includes a couple bikes, lot's of gear and shoes and food, etc.
I was content. A quiet Motel, away from the pre-race craziness, a bunch if iTunes movies to watch, a couple good books, lots of carbs for loading, and a comfortable couch and bed!
I was set...
And then "he" moved in next door.
While I was down at the lake, the next evening, doing a nice easy taper swim, some guy had moved into the room next door to me and was sitting out on the balcony smoking a cigarette and drinking his third Corona.
"Fudge!!!", as Ralphie would say.
This guy looked like your average skinny, unhealthy, beer drinking, Marlboro Red smoking, pain in the ass, redneck.
He says, "Hi". And I begrudingly reply, "hey...". With a nod of my head.
Just what I need, some total door-knob staying up late drinking and blowing cigarette smoke into my perfect little world.
That night was still well. "he" was quiet and did not disturb my precious Howard Hughes cocoon.
The next morning as I am heading out on my ride I notice that he is just returning from a ride on his Cervelo P3C with Zipp 808's front and rear.
So, "he" is entered into the race. Must be some crazy dare or "he" is using it as some sort of vehicle to break his unhealthy lifestyle. Either way, I just don't want this guy on some sort of life turn around trip 'ruining' my perfect race.
Well, long story short:
Turns out, the guy has a name, Matt Perkins.
Turns out, he is a year older than me.
Turns out, he beats me by 1 hour, 5 minutes, and some change.
Turns out, he had just done Ironman Lake Placid 6 weeks earlier.
Turns out, he qualifies for Ironman Hawaii.
AND, Turns out, I am the jack ass, and good thing I didn't disrupt this guys perfect race......

Matt Perkins Effect = Train/Work Hard, Live Well, and most important, don't be afraid to let loose every once in awhile WITH NO GUILT AND NO APOLOGIES (especially to that judgemental putz next door who turns up his nose at you when you are hanging out enjoying the evening with a vice or two...). And you will prosper!

This week your HomeWork is to let loose with NO GUILT AND NO APOLOGIES.
Pick your most favorite and sometimes most secret vice, and enjoy.
(just don't hurt yourself or anyone else, please!) The thing that makes this different, is the goal of the HomeWork is to COMPLETELY make no apology to anyone. And to have NO guilt feelings associated with this!
Eat a little unhealthy but really really good - food.
Skip a workout.
Sleep in.
Stay up late.
Etc. Etc. Etc.

Have a great week,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 9/6/09

2009-09-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

So for those of us around Puget Sound there was a drastic change to the
overall feel of “Summer”.
Basically, it disappeared.
Currently it is the classic Seattle gray overcast and slightly drizzly. No
wonder we are the birthplace of ‘grunge’, this could get you a little
depressed and full of angst...
Also, it is a good thing that we are water-proof.
So, in recognition and honor of these two pieces of information, this week’s
HomeWork is to “get outside and get a possibly wet, possibly rainy, possibly
muddy, definitely sweaty, and most certainly dirty workout” 30-60+ minute
session in this week.
If you are in the Northwest, this will be very easy. Go to your local park
or outdoor playfield with a couple small dumbbells and do a workout. AND!
Don’t avoid the mud or wet grass. Get in there and do some squat thrusts or
sit-ups or push-ups in the muck!
A local favorite is the 22-minute routine which I have cut and pasted into
the bottom of this HomeWork.
If that does not appeal to you, get out there in your own yard, a neighbor’s
yard, or a local P-patch and dig up some summer flowers, clean up some plant
debris, prune those rhododendrons for the winter. You know, do something
where you are a little muddy and sweaty and wipe the back of your hand
across your forehead and leave a strip of dirt/mud on your dome.
If you are not in the Seattle area and the weather is still “Summer”. Then:
First, let me tell you where to go where I am sure it is a lot hotter than
wherever you are currently (Seattle-ites bitter?!?! no.....)!
Second, get out there and do the same thing, just without the wet and muddy
environment. Go do walking or running intervals on the beach. Dig up some
cactus. Go volunteer for a couple hours at a food bank/farmer’s
market/produce stand. Get a load of gravel/peat moss/sod and
landscape/plant something. Again with the wipe of the back of your hand
leaving a swathe of dirt across your forehead.

Think of this as one of your last outdoor activities before you ‘go inside
for the winter’...
For our Palm Spring and Florida HomeWork-ers (4 and counting), I don’t know
what to say. This week will be a week where you automatically get an “A+”.
Just don’t brag to us about how you will need to put on a long sleeve
t-shirt in the evenings soon as the temperature drops below 80...

Have a great muddy/dirty week,
MRoss

P.S.

Here is the 22-minute routine:
[A video example of this is at drtri.com/videos]
1) Upright Row
2) Dead Lifts
3) Bent Row
4) Hang Cleans (upright rows + deadlifts)
5) Squat Thrusts (“burpees”)
6) Military Press
7) Front Squats
8) Use one Barbell that you never release. Do 15 Reps of each exercise
then start over at the beginning until you have completed the exercises 5
times through. If it takes longer than 24 minutes, use less weight. If it
takes less than 21 minutes, use more weight. This doesn’t take very much
weight! Most people start with either two 5lb dumbbells or a broomstick –
seriously!
A video example of this is at drtri.com/videos

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 9/1/09

2009-09-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

Anthony Keidis had the right idea....
Give it away.

That is your HomeWork for this week. Go into your closet, storage shed, second drawer down, rafters over the garage, or under your bed and find one item that you have not used or worn in more than one year and “Give it away”!
Do not throw it away.
Give it away to someone that can use it. This pre-supposes that the item is worthy of giving away to someone who will not just throw it into the landfill.
It must be a “useable” item.

For example:
An old Rice Cooker
Juice Machine
Book
Jacket
Shirt
Jumprope
P90X videos
DumbBells
Stapler
650c bicycle tubes
Can of Chicken Noodle Soup
Computer Monitor
Bed Frame
Fat jeans

Etc, etc, etc....

It is a win/win/win situation. You win by clearing out something that was just taking up space, the recipient gains something that they will use, and you win again by feeling good about giving something and not just throwing it into the landfill in another 5 or 10 years...

Have a great week,
MRoss

Next "NEW" thing...

2009-08-27T14:52:00.000-07:00

So just a short note about what I predict to be the next 'new' thing/fad/craze in the health & fitness arena...
Coconut Oil.

I have been using coconut oil for some time now (months) and many people I know and trust have been doing it for awhile (years in some cases).
Basically coconut oil is a Medium Chain Triglyceride that is great for energy metabolism and weight control. In addition it has none of the negative side effects of other saturated fats.
Numerous studies have found increased endurance capacity, increased weight loss, and increased basal metabolic rate (by up to 500 cal/day) with the addition of coconut oil to a regular diet. While the studies have been on primarily non-human mammals, there are quite a few that have been done on humans with the same results.

I will post a complete list of all the studies I have found here in the next few days to week.

Have a great sunny rest of your week,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 8/24/09

2009-08-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

Did everyone eat roots and tree bark last week?
I sure hope not. I did get some feedback from a few people that said it seemed difficult at first, but then they realized that it was really easy and seemed too simple.
“You mean just meat/fish and veggies?!?!”
“yep!”
“Oh, I can do that...”

Anyway, enough of that food stuff. This week’s HomeWork has to do with “fun”.
Actually the opposite of fun.
Your HomeWork this week is to do some sort of physical activity for at least 30 minutes that you wouldn’t normally do, and therefore may not find to be very ‘fun’.
If you go to the gym, I want you to use a machine that you have never tried before.
If you are opposed to yoga. Participate in a yoga class.
If you have not ridden a bike since you were 12 (or so), go rent a bike on Alki or Greenlake.
(PLEASE WEAR A HELMET)
Speaking of Greenlake, they have paddle and row boats for rent also.
Not a ball sport person? Go play basketball at the neighborhood park.
Anything you want, just something that you would not normally do.
Yard work does count for this. I personally do not like (borderline hate) yard work, so this might be good for me...
If you are not a ‘runner’ (Dallas?!?!) then go ‘run for 30 minutes steady pace.
Rollerblade?
Chop wood?
Tennis?
Catch?
Frisbee?
Romanian Stiff Legged Deadlifts?
DrTri Iron Cross?
Swim?
Canoe?
Stairs?

You get the idea. I have found that a lot of us migrate towards the physical activities that we are good at or have become practiced at doing. This is to break up that cycle/pattern.

Have a great week!
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 8/16/09

2009-08-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

So, Farmer last week, Caveman? This week...

There is a craze that is spreading around called the “Paleo Diet”. Books, Crossfit Certification, seminars, websites, etc. etc. all having to do with supposedly eating like paleolithic man once did are everywhere...

Well, I don’t know about all that. But, what I do know is that if I were left to my own devices on a deserted tropical island I would admittedly eat different than I do now. I don’t know if I could figure how to make rice pasta or gluten-free pizza dough, never mind knowing how to cultivate rice, oats, etc... This is the basic premise of the aforementioned “Paleo Diet”. To eliminate all processed grains and bread/pasta like products.
I simply call this eating within two degrees of separation of the earth (or I like to call this a “primary foods” way of eating).
Which brings us to this week’s HomeWork.

Let’s try this out and see how we feel when we eat like this!
For this week attempt to eat within two degrees of separation of the earth.

Here’s how:
Two degrees of separation means that you can
1.(degree) Pick, catch, kill, pluck, dig up, or trap your food.
2.(degrees) Clean and/or heat it to make it edible. (chopping, slicing, shredding or other similar preparing it is okay as long as you are sure you could easily do this on the set of “Lost” - you found a knife in a dead sailor’s backpack let’s say..)

That’s it. If you can not do this with the food then you can not eat it. So, in other words, you will be eating fruits, vegetables, and animal products (if you are an omnivore, otherwise no animal for you). Nothing else. No grains, no breads, no pastas.
A sample meal would be fish and greens. Or steak and eggs, mmmmmm. Or greens, potatoes, and oranges.
For this go-round drinks will be exempt from the two degrees of separation rule, UNLESS you really want to try this and then I would suggest you would be drinking, hmmm, let’s see, WATER (and maybe coconut water).

If you have any questions, let me know!

Have fun,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 8/3/09

2009-08-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hang on, this is a thoughtful HomeWork!

Ego
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin.
Date: 1789
1 : the self especially as contrasted with another self or the world
2 : the one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory that serves as the organized conscious mediator between the person and reality especially by functioning both in the perception of and adaptation to reality — compare id, superego

This week's HomeWork has to do with the above word, ego....
As I see it, and feel free to correct me if you like, the ego is not a good or a bad thing, it simply is a thing. Like many other mental entities, you can not touch it, measure it, or easily affect it. It has a certain nebulous quality that makes it hard to explain, and hard to grasp exactly when it is active. What can be good or bad, is the way in which the ego is expressed. In many situations the ego can drive people to greatness and selfless service, while in other situations it can get in the way of communication, relationships, and/or happiness and success. All depends on how we act upon our egos, or act when our egos 'act up'....

So this week's HomeWork is to identify a situation, action, or behavior that is negatively affected or influenced by your ego and change it. Now 'bad' and 'good' are subjective terms. In this case I mean 'good' to be positively beneficial to your health, fitness, and/or mental well-being. While 'bad' has a negative impact on your health, fitness, and/or mental well-being.

While this HomeWork is not about me, I will share a situation where my ego was negatively impacting my life, as an example for you... Ironman Canada.
This year I will not 'compete' in Ironamn Canada, but will rather 'participate'. As such I do not anticipate having a stellar finishing time. Probably about 60 to 90 minutes slower than last year, which will put me right in the fray with the majority of other finishers in my age group.
Huh?!?!?! "DrTri" is not going to have some awesome finish and set some sort of new course record or maybe even win or become the world's greatest Ironman Triathlete (even though they don't hand out that prize at this, or any triathlon)?!?!?!?!?!?!?
But... but.... but....
I'm DrTri! Don't you know that I am a Doctor AND a Ironman Triathlete!?!? I am an "EXPERT" on triathlon coaching. I know better than any other triathlon coach in the entire UNIVERSE!!!!
As a friend of mine once said, "Get over yourself..."
True dat.
I realized that when my training was not going as I had wanted this year due to life and 'stuff', that I would not have a great race in Canada. Of course I went through the stages, DABDA. And then thought I should pull out of the race. I made up excuses and justifications for why I should not waste anymore time training for a race that I would not do my best at. And then, after a couple weeks, it hit me. I was doing exactly what I dislike about the sport of triathlon (and many other sports for that matter), I was doing the race mostly because of my ego. And therefore, I was wanting to do well because of my ego. I was soooooo worried about what it would look like if "DrTri" did not have some stellar race, that I forgot that I was meant to be doing the race for fun, to challenge my self personally, and to accomplish a personal goal. Not for how it reflected upon "DrTri"...
SO I changed my attitude and am doing the race for fun and to finish the darn thing. Don't get me wrong, I will train the best I can and participate the best I can. But, I will not be doing it because of my ego and not let my ego affect how I feel about my performance on that day. I will be doing it for fun and the personal challenge. Period. Finish time be damned!
Consequently my training feels better and more enjoyable. My fitness is doing very well. And I am back to having fun with this silly triathlon thing again.
So, again, what is a behavior or attitude where your ego is negatively affecting your life?
Can you change that?

Other examples might be:
Saying yes to everything asked of you, no matter how it impacts your life.
Worrying about what you look like in every picture taken of you.
Pretending to know something that you do not.
Being defensive when someone points out a mistake you made.
Not doing something enjoyable simply because you are not good at it.
Etc. Etc. Etc.

I am sure that you have something in your life that you can think of almost off the top of your head!

So, now, go out there and exorcise your ego, and exercise your body and mind!

Have a great week,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 7/19/09

2009-07-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

This week's HomeWork is Fun!!!

This week, I want you to find an old plain colored t-shirt (we all have one or five in the bottom drawer of a dresser or box in the back of our closet) or buy one if you must, of your favorite color. If you can't find one that is a color, plain white will work. We all have plain white t-shirts somewhere in our clothes. If you don't have one and don't want to buy one, let me know! I have a bunch and would be happy to give you one. Seriously, I would rather give one to you than have to make a special trip to Goodwill or worse - throw it out. They are all XL...

Then, come up with your very own "Life Slogan".
I want you to write that " Life Slogan" on the front and back of the t-shirt with a permanent marker in big block letters.

Then one day this week, you must wear that t-shirt out in public. It doesn't matter if it is to work, run errands, play, or work out or wherever. Just for one day (actually a few hours will also suffice) wear it out where other people will see you!
Then, take a picture of yourself wearing it and send it to me at ross@drtri.com.
I will post all of them to my blog during next week's HomeWork.

My "Life Slogan" is "Do Right, Fear Not"....
What is your's?!?!?!?

MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 7/13/09

2009-07-13T19:17:00.001-07:00

This week is the end of our 100 day challenge from April 5th, 2009 (July 15th, to be exact).
Have you been keeping up with your challenge to a healthy activity of your choice every day for 10-15 minutes?!?!?!?
For those of you who were not part of this Weekly Health and Fitness HomeWork, don’t worry about not knowing what I am talking about because I am giving you a chance to try it out.
For those of you who “fell off the wagon”, I am giving you another chance to go for 100 days...
And! For those of you who kept to it and did your 10-15 minutes of self-good for the entire 100 days..... CONGRATULATIONS!
Gold stars to every one of you. (I am on day 248 of my daily “activity” that is good for me.)

So, here is this week’s HomeWork:

For the newer folks and for those who “fell off the wagon” and need to ‘try it again’,
choose some “activity” that is good for you and you wish/know/feel that you should do more often. It has to only take about 10-15 minutes to complete.
For example your “activity” could be ONE of the following:
Walk
Run
Meditate
Eat greens
Floss
Sex
Push Ups
Sit Ups
Read
Write
Study a language
Talk to your kid(s), partner, parent(s), friend(s)
Paint
Nap!
Take a bath
Surf the web
DrTri Daily Double!?!?
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Again it has to be good for you and something that you have thought would be good if you did more often. Or, something that you wanted to see what would happen if you really did it more often as you perhaps have been advised by a friend, doctor, parent, partner, etc.
So, hear is the “actual” HomeWork.
You have to do this for 100 days. Starting any day this week that you want (I will be starting tomorrow morning) and then continue for 100 days... Should be a true test of our resolve and/or commitment and discipline to be healthier!!!
So for 10-15 minutes each day for the next 100 days, do this the particular “activity” that you want. It DOES NOT have to be from the above list. If you start tomorrow, then it will end on October 21st.

For those of you who did well and stuck to it for 100 days (or anyone else who wants a different twist to the 100 day challenge), this is the DrTri-Lent version.... Guess that makes it “Dent’....
For the next 100 days, eliminate something that you do that is not positive, forward moving, productive, healthy, and/or good for you. This can be anything physical, mental, gastrointestinal, etc. etc.

If you need assistance figuring out what to eliminate, drop your ego, and ask your closest friend what one thing you could eliminate that stands in your way of health, fitness, success, and/or happiness.
(you know what will happen.... After 100 days if you focus on eliminating this item, it will probably be likely to disappear altogether from you daily existence...?)
This does not necessarily have to be something that is “bad” for you. Just something that may “get in your way”.
For example:
Eliminate the word “ummm”.
Stop eating when you are not hungry or just because the bag or bowl of chips or candy is there.
Stop chewing with your mouth open.
Don’t say “yes” when you SHOULD say “no”.
Stop picking on your lieutenant (I mean boss...) -no personal reference intended...ha
Don’t automatically sit down in front of the TV when you eat.

Basically anything that is not in your best interest. We all have many little things that we do during our day that “get in our own way”. This is just an exercise in reducing the number of things! If you start tomorrow, then it will end on October 21st.

Have fun with this,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 7/5/09

2009-07-06T06:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of HomeWork last week. It is summer after all, so I
took a small summer break. That may happen from time to time over the rest
of the summer. Just mean one less thing for us to do so you can focus more
on getting outside in the beautiful weather. In fact, that will be the
default HomeWork. If you do not receive an “official DrTri Health & Fitness
HomeWork” in your email by Monday morning of each week, then assume your
HomeWork is to make sure you get outside and ‘enjoy’ the weather at least
once per day for the following week!

So, here is this week’s HomeWork:
Again following the lack of consistent eye-hand coordination that the
majority of us busy real job people get, this week I want everyone to get 3
tennis balls or similar size objects that can be juggled.
You guessed it, once per day for 10 minutes you are to juggle (or attempt to
juggle). Start out with one hand and two objects/balls. Toss one up about
16 inches and then toss the other up about 16 inches and alternate catching
and re-tossing them back up with the same hand. Once you master this for a
full minute, move onto 3 objects and two hands.
There are numerous videos on the internet(s) that show “how to juggle”.
Just Google “how to juggle” and a plethera of sites comes up...
Most of juggle life, kids, family, work, training, meetings anyway – so
juggling 3 little objects should be easy...

Have a great week!
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 6/21/09

2009-06-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

This week's HomeWork returns to the physical, but may be a bit silly to some of you. Others may dread this one.

It seems that most adults have lost a certain amount of "eye-hand"
coordination. It is the classic case of "use it or lose it". (there goes
"quotation mark happy" Mike...)
So, to work on that, this week¹s HomeWork is to play "honest to goodness
catch" for at least 30 minutes this week. Preferably all at once - on one
of the days this week, but if not then you can spread it out over a few
days, say ten minutes a day for three days. It doesn't matter what you play
catch with. It can be a football, baseball, hand-grenade, frisbee, 80's
trackball, flaming tennis ball (or not flaming), whatever you like.
What I mean by "honest to goodness catch" is that it has to be somewhat of
an exertion for you. Not just tossing the ball back and forth with your 3
year old son, or 98 year old grandmother. You have to play serious catch
with someone of equal or greater ability. Unfortunately, throwing the ball
for your dog or pot belly pig also is not acceptable. I want you to be
challenged with this, perhaps even a tiny bit scared.
Part of the coordination factor is not just throwing the ball/object, but
also having to CATCH it!

BUT, remember always keep your eye on the ball!
Trust me, a broken nose is no fun...

Have Fun,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 6/14/09

2009-06-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

This week’s home work is to pick two days (preferably consecutively, i.e. Mon + Tues, or Thurs + Fri, etc.) and eat 5 small to medium meals each day instead of 3 normal to large meals.
If you are really motivated, you can set your watch/timer (or just watch the clock) and eat every 3 hours. This would be more than 5 meals – and that would really take some motivation...
They say that we are supposed (they...) to eat small meals throughout the day instead of 3 meals. Grandma said, “Three square meals a day. Large Breakfast, medium lunch, and then a small dinner (or a supper in there instead). So, which is it?
So this week, be very disciplined about it and try it for yourself to see if you feel any difference...
Find out if, at least over 2 days, eating smaller more frequent meals has any effect on you.... Good or Bad.

I know that there are some of you that already follow this. For you, I would suggest trying the ‘motivated’ level of homework and try the every 3 hours eating routine. If not, then you get an automatic ‘A’ for this week’s HomeWork.

See what happens,
MRoss

DrTri Summer Endurance Conditioning Class

2009-06-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

So it is “officially” summer and time to take our class outdoors again.
I have been waiting for the weather to be as certain as it can be and I think that time has arrived!!!

So, for this summer there are 3 options.
Option 1 = For “experienced participants” we will have the ‘DrTri Tougher Thursdays Conditioning Class’
Starting June 4th, and going until August 6th, 6:30-7:30pm on Thursday (with one exception – check website for details), 10 sessions, $120 for the entire Class.
Tougher Thursdays will be at GasWorks Park (the north end of Lake Union)
This class will be INTENSE AND CHALLENGING! There will be mostly high intensity intervals, coordination, climbing, jumping, running, lunging, pushing, pulling, etc etc.
To quote Debbie in the office, this will be at times, “unreasonable” exercises! Very fun and definitely do-able, just also very challenging.
We recommend this for participants who have done at least one prior outdoor Class session and feel like they can handle more of the same and a bit more intense. This is open to everyone! Just recommend that you are in pretty good shape already!

Option 2 = For “Superheroes in training” we will have the ‘DrTri Tough Tuesdays Conditioning Class’
Starting June 9th and going until July 27th, 6:30-7:30pm on Tuesdays (with one exception – check website for details), 8 session, $96 for the entire Class.
Tough Tuesdays will be at Jack Block Park (in West Seattle)
This class will be a very good workout and YOU WILL be sore two days later especially when sitting and climbing stairs. This IS NOT a weenie version of Thursdays, it is still a very challenging workout, just not quite as intense as Thursdays. Lots of the same stuff as the winter morning class and last summer of lunging, balance, coordination, agility, jumping, interval workouts!
Again, to quote Debbie in the office, this will be a more “reasonable” series of exercises. And, I promise you will get a solid workout!
This class is open to all levels, with emphasis on people who are also working out at least 2 or 3 other times per week.

Option 3 = Both. Tough + Tougher = Toughest?!?!?!?
Sign up for both classes and experience the joy of DrTri and his interval workouts, cheesy jokes, and ‘rad’ 80’s music twice per week.
Essentially this is designed for Tougher Thursday participants who also want to add more fun earlier in the week!
18 sessions total, $198 for it all!

Contact Debbie in the office, 206.932.7943 or debbie@drtri.com, ASAP to sign up!
For more information about the class, take a look at the website at drtri.com under Classes.

This has filled up for the last 3 or 4 ‘seasons’ so let her know right away!
We will limit this to 20 participants maximum.

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 5/31/09

2009-06-01T05:41:00.000-07:00

This week’s HomeWork is a review of a HomeWork from a few weeks ago.
It is such a good one, that I feel it is worth repeating. And no, I did not
run out of ideas, I have a list that get’s longer everyday.
There are a couple worth repeating, I believe; the 100 day challenge – which
by the way, is still going on for a lot of people, and the writing down 3
(or was it 5?) goals: 1 month, 3 month, and 6 month, (plus 1 year and 5
year?) everyday.
But this week’s review is the “Take Back 4:20 Club” HomeWork.

Set an alarm to go off each day this week at 4:19 pm. That will give you 1
minute to get prepared (stop what you are doing, get up from your desk, find
some open space) for 4:20. At 4:20 pm you will perform 1 minute of physical
activity. Whatever you like:
Sit absolutely silent and count your deep breathes
Jumping Jacks
Push Ups
Walk
Run
Hop
Scorpions
Deadlifts
Sing
Hang from a bar
Spin around in your chair
Throw a frisbee
Walk around in circles in the grass/turf in bare feet (my personal favorite)

For many of us, this will be a review, or a re-confirmation of something we
are already doing. For the new people, try this and see what you think.
You too may find it a nice break in your day and keep doing it beyond this
week.

Have a great sunny week,
MRoss

P.S.
For those of you who decided to follow/watch Girls High School Softball this
week (I sent my proxy on Saturday to the 3A Finals) you already know this
news. For the rest of you, I am happy to report that the Bainbridge
Spartans, featuring one of our HomeWork people’s daughter, beat out Holy
Names for the 3A State Championship!!!
Congratulations Spartans! And Congratulations Haylee Baker!

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 5/24/09

2009-05-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

I hope you are all enjoying your Memorial Day weekend!
This week’s HomeWork is to appreciate true athletics and sports at it’s most
sincere level.
So, this week (or next weekend) find a middle school or high school game to
watch. Other than Football or Basketball – especially for high school.
Preferably Junior Varsity and preferably girls.
It seems to me that JV (and younger and most often girls) athletics are
still the most pure athletics and the players are truly out there for the
love of the game. Not for the money, notoriety, fame, glory, etc. etc. I
see college and pro sports (especially american football and basketball, and
sometimes baseball) being too wrapped up in ego and corruption. Whether it
is the refs, the coaches, the owners/sponsors, and even the players, it
seems there is a lot going on other than simply athleticism and love of the
game. Even high school basketball and football players often appear to have
their eye on the prize of bling, girls, fame, and money... Not all the time,
but it seems more and more each year.

So, I would suggest (like I said, girls JV would be ideal) watching:
Tennis
Track meet
Crew (greenlake or mount baker)
Softball
Middle school (or younger?) football
Middle school (or younger?) basketball
Lacrosse
Swim meet
Rugby
Cross Country
Chess
Wrestling
Bowling

There are many other options, these are just a few that come to mind.
You can look in the paper, ask a friend who has a child in JV athletics, or
even go watch your own kids game or meet. If you have kids, you may get an
automatic “A” on this week’s HomeWork, AS LONG AS YOU REALLY AND EARNESTLY
WATCH the game or meet. You must turn off your cell phone, avoid ‘chatting’
with other parents, etc. etc. Actually, this goes for everyone watching an
event this week, it is about watching them play and not multi-tasking while
you are there.

Go out and have a great rest of your 3-day weekend (if you have one). Don’t
feel sorry for me, I get to go to work tomorrow and attempt to make a
difference! while I work with some of the best and most fun men I have ever
met.

Remembering why they call it Memorial Day,
MRoss

Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 5/17/09

2009-05-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

This week's HomeWork takes a break from the physical and returns (sort of)
to the mental.
I thought of this while listening to the high school kids I coach at Green
Lake Crew last week.
It was amazing how many times the 'word' "Umm" was uttered.
I use quotes around 'word', because a prof/mentor of mine in undergrad once
said, "Umm is a sound, not a word." And Dr. Prim was absolutely correct.
I counted one of the rowers saying "umm" 7 times in one 5-minute
conversation with another rower.
So, this week's HomeWork is to pick one day and count the number of times
YOU say the 'word' "Umm" between the time you wake up and when you go to
sleep. It will be a lot for me, I am sure! I plan on keeping a piece of
paper in my pocket and each time I utter that little noise, I will jot it
down. By the end of the day there will be a BUNCH of little hash marks on
that piece of paper.

Just an interesting little awareness exercise to improve our linguistic
skills.

Have a great week,
umMRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 5/3/09

2009-05-04T05:46:00.001-07:00

Hello All,

They say that a little bit goes a long way (of the right thing, of course).
[Whoever ‘they’ are...]

So this week we will put that idea to good use...

Each day this week perform 100 “jumping jacks”

It may sound like a lot, but you have 24 hours in which to complete the 100 repetitions.
Then start again the next day.
Doesn’t matter if you do all 100 at a time, or you split it up into smaller numbers each hour, or 50 in the morning and 50 in the evening, etc. Just as long as you complete all 100 between the time you wake up and go to bed.
Here’s an idea – you can get a big chunk of them done at 4:20 during your 1 minute of activity!
Sounds silly, but isn’t that part of the point of this Weekly HomeWork thing?

If you would like to watch some very interesting, and I will admit, a bit motivating, videos - check out:
http://www.jacklalanne.com/tv.html
Old video of the Original Jack Lalanne Show.

Have a great week,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 4/26/09

2009-05-04T05:44:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

This week’s HomeWork is to get to the roots of a Farmer’s Strength.
BREAKFAST...

“The most important meal of the day!”
Heard that before?

So, pick one day this week and get up 21 minutes early and make a REAL Farmer’s Breakfast for yourself (and/or family).
We are talking eggs, hashbrowns, pancakes, bacon (pork or turkey), maybe even throw it all into a Farmer’s Omelette.
No skimping on “lite” or “lo-cal” stuff either. Get real (organic?) eggs, real potato hashbrowns, organic meat bacon, etc. etc.
If you drink milk, get organic whole milk (DrTri says yuch...) and get the good orange juice.

So the real HomeWork is to shop for the right ingredients, set your alarm clock earlier, and then after you have eaten this Hearty Breakfast, go work it off on the farm (or gym, or road, or pool).

Throw a bale of hay for me,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 4/19/09

2009-04-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

I was reminded, while on an Aid Response at the Fire Department, this last week of the ritual that some people do every day at 4:20. I do not engage in that behavior, but it did leave me feeling a little ‘left out’ of some exclusive club...
So, this week’s HomeWork is to “take back 4:20” (or actually, to be more precise, “join the 4:20” club)

BUT, we will be doing a minute of exercise at 4:20 instead of anything else.

Every day this week, at 4:20 pm, perform 1 minute of exercise of your choice. Can be squats, push-ups, back extensions, run, walk, sit-ups, pull-ups, bounce on a trampoline, anything active that you want to do as long as it get’s your heart pumping, increases blood flow, contracts muscles, increases respirations, etc. etc.
I want us all to set our watches (or bring an alarm timer/clock and set it on your desk at work) for 4:19 pm. That will give us 1 minute to get ready, i.e. stand up from your desk, pull the car over, stop whatever else you are doing, and then at exactly 4:20 perform 1 solid minute of exercise activity. If you are in a meeting, set your fancy phone alarm on vibrate, and just do repeated ‘isometric’ contractions of your calves, or glutes, etc...

Pretty simple, just have to remember to set an alarm/timer!!!

Have a great week!
MRoss

Still on your 100 day challenge?!?!? If not, GET BACK ON IT!

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 4/12/09

2009-04-12T05:39:00.000-07:00

Hello and Happy Rainy Sunday (in Seattle anyway...),

This week’s HomeWork, in the spirit of Spring, is to plant something...
For some of you this will be really easy because you are already planting your spring ‘stuff’ anyway.
For me, and a lot of you, this will be something that we have not done in a long time (or perhaps a very long time – since grade school?). The last thing I planted was a live Christmas tree in my front yard about 7 years ago. It is still there and growing well, despite my lack of care and attention. Before that I believe it was grade school... I am not much of a yard guy.
So, go to whatever ‘plant store’ you like and buy a bulb(s), flowers, bush, tree, etc. etc. and plant it.
Preferably outside but other than that, yard, patio, community garden, doesn’t matter where, just plant something.

Pretty straightforward this week. Help boost the Spring spirit!

Have a great week,
MRoss

P.S.
Did you remember to come up with a 100 day ‘challenge’ for your self?!?!? Not too late, you can still do it...

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for Apr 5th, 2009

2009-04-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
I trust you had a wonderful 3 weeks without me. I hear the weather was less than great... Angkor Wat was truly incredible! I suggest it to everyone. Check out the attached photos for what DrTri does on his vacations?!?!?

So, back to business. This week’s DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork is a guest submission from Casey S.! The HomeWork is to choose some “activity” that is good for you and you wish/know/feel that you should do more often. It has to only take about 10-15 minutes to complete.
For example your “activity” could be ONE of the following:
Walk
Run
Meditate
Eat greens
Floss
Sex
Push Ups
Sit Ups
Read
Write
Study a language
Talk to your kid(s), partner, parent(s), friend(s)
Paint
Nap!
Take a bath
Surf the web
DrTri Daily Double!?!?
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Again it has to be good for you and something that you have thought would be good if you did more often. Or, something that you wanted to see what would happen if you really did it more often as you perhaps have been advised by a friend, doctor, parent, partner, etc.
So, hear is the “actual” HomeWork.
You have to do this for 100 days. Starting any day this week that you want (I will be starting tomorrow morning) and then continue for 100 days... Should be a true test of our resolve and/or commitment and discipline to be healthier!!!
So for 10-15 minutes each day for the next 100 days, do this the particular “activity” that you want. It DOES NOT have to be from the above list. If you start tomorrow, then it will end on July 15th.
For you new people to this crazy HomeWork list, this should blow you out of the water a little. Trust me this is one of the most, if not the most, difficult HomeWorks that has been given.
But, again, don’t blame me... This is a guest HomeWork from Casey S.
Next week will be much easier!

100 and counting,
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for March 8, 2009

2009-03-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

So, as promised. This week is an easy week for the HomeWork.
Before we get into ‘it’ - a couple of things....
I will be out of town for the next couple weeks and therefore will not promise to be assigning HomeWork. If I have a chance to get to it, then I will. Otherwise, after today look for your next HomeWork on April 5th.
Also, remember, that the HomeWork is not “graded” and there are no negative consequences/ridicule/harassment for not doing a particular week’s HomeWork. They are merely weekly tools to increase your awareness about your health and fitness – physical, mental, and/or gastrointestinal. So if I pass you on the street don’t hide behind a telephone pole or anything because you did not “do” the HomeWork. I reserve the right to not do the HomeWork also. We are all human on this giant ball together, so when I attain perfection, I will then start harassing you about your lack thereof...

So, now, this weeks’ HomeWork:

Every day this week, every hour that you are awake (as best you can), do either one of two things (depending where you are).

Stop, stand up, wide comfortable stance, reach up and overhead stretching up to the sky and then bend to reach down to touch the ground 3 times, and attempt to think of only 1 thing. This 1 thing is, “I am fit and healthy”. Just keep thinking that over and over while you are doing 3 repetitions of the toes to sky reach and “DYNAMIC” (ha ha ha) stretch..

OR, if you are in a situation where standing up to do this is ‘impossible’ and/or rude;
(driving, in a meeting, etc. etc.)
Stop, close your eyes, and slowly take 3 breaths, and attempt to think of only 1 thing. This 1 thing is, “I am fit and healthy”. Just keep thinking that over and over while you are taking 3 slow breaths..

This is a form of tuning in, meditation, tuning out, whatever, that has been labeled by many, many, gurus, meditation teachers, exercise freaks, Jack Lallane, etc. Really all it is doing is changing up a static pattern or repetition of movement that we get into...

So, pretty darn easy and a little woo-woo (but not much)!

Talk to you all again in 3 weeks!

Speelling, mye last step towerd perfecsion,

MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for Mar 1, 2009

2009-03-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, next week will be easy, “I promise!!!”

This week, your assignment is to pick one day and eat nothing but greens all day.
Yes, that means greens for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner.
This is a one day green cleanse.
By “greens” I mean green vegetables. That includes, avocado, kale, broccoli, green peppers, romaine lettuce, any vegetable that is green. I know it is not St. Patrick’s day yet, but I will be out of town on St. Pat’s day so this is will give us all a head start!
You can still drink whatever you want, just whatever you eat has to be a green vegetable. I don’t care how you prepare the green food. And you can use any seasonings that you desire.
Just the food has to be green. Did I mention green beans? Wasabi? Peas? Spinach? Cucumber? Zuchini? There are soooo many green foods that I will stop now before you all get green in the face listening to me list off green foods (huh?).

Go forth and eat your greens all day for one day this week!

Have a Great Week!
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for Feb 22, 2009

2009-02-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

Philo Farsworth “invented” television and got his patent in in 1927 amidst some controversy from a Russian guy, Vladimir Zworykin, and RCA. He later was ‘over run by big business’, as he would put it, and became depressed and addicted to alcohol and painkillers.

So, in tribute to Mr. Farnsworth, this week we are going to boycott television!!!
That’s right, no television for 1 week.
You can do it, I know you can. For some this will be easy. For the rest of you (us), this will be a great exercise to see how dependent/addicted/reliant/etc.. on TV we really are.

If this does not sound that difficult to you, then I have a further challenge for you:
Disconnect yourself from all electronic information and entertainment media for this week. TV, radio, computer news, podcasts, and the like. You can still use your computer and fancy phone, but just don’t watch any movies, television shows, recorded news, and don’t read any electronic news. Any information and entertainment this week needs to come from printed word on a paper/magazine page. I would go as far to include Kindles in the electronic realm, so technically you would eliminate that also.

So, 1 week. Can you do it?
I know a guy who works in TV/advertising and up until about a year or so ago did not even own a television at home.
If he could do it, then you surely can! Poor Pete now has an HD TV and HD-DVD player...

Just for some last electronic media reading, I have included some recent interesting studies and highlighted the key points in red.
If you go to pubmed.com and search for television with any number of other terms (brain function, cognition, activity, etc.) you will find a whole bunch of interesting information...

Have a great week,

M”I’m not a Luddite”Ross

Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2003 Jan;29(1):76-85.Click here to read Links
Watching your troubles away: television viewing as a stimulus for subjective self-awareness.
Moskalenko S, Heine SJ.

Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA. smoskale@psych.upenn.edu

Three studies explored the role of television viewing in eliciting subjective self-awareness and positive self-feelings. Study 1 assessed the effects of self-awareness manipulations via exposure to a neutral television program on actual-ideal discrepancies. Those who watched television showed significantly smaller self-discrepancies than those who did not, independent of mood. Study 2 demonstrated the ecological validity of this finding by replicating it with people watching television in their own homes. Study 3 investigated whether manipulations of self-feelings affected television watching. Results indicated that those who received failure feedback watched television longer than those in a control condition who likewise watched television longer than those who received success feedback. Television appears to be an effective stimulus to direct the focus away from oneself and to render people less aware of how they are falling short of their standards.

Int J Behav Med. 2007;14(2):57-62.Links
Negative psychological effects of watching the news in the television: relaxation or another intervention may be needed to buffer them!
Szabo A, Hopkinson KL.

National Institute for Sport Talent Care, Budapest, Hungary. szabo.attila@nupi.hu

The psychological effects of televised news were studied in 2 groups (n = 179) of undergraduate students who watched a 15-min random newscast followed by either a 15-min progressive relaxation exercise or a 15-min lecture (control condition). Subjective measures of state anxiety, total mood disturbance (TMD), positive affect, and negative affect were obtained before and after the news, as well as following relaxation exercise or the lecture. The results show that state anxiety and TMD increased, whereas positive affect decreased in both groups after watching the news and 15 min later they returned to baseline (pre-news) only in the relaxation group, whereas they remained unchanged in the control group. These findings demonstrate that watching the news on television triggers persisting negative psychological feelings that could not be buffered by attention-diverting distraction (i.e., lecture), but only by a directed psychological intervention such as progressive relaxation.

Minerva Pediatr. 2002 Oct;54(5):423-36.
Television and children's consumption patterns. A review of the literature.
Coon KA, Tucker KL.

Nutritional Epidemiology, Jean Mayer USDA Human, Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, USA.

The recent increase in childhood obesity has, among other things, focused attention on the role that television may play. This paper summarizes results of studies published in peer review journals since 1970 with data pertaining to the relationship between television use and children's food intake. Studies fall into four categories: content analyses; effects of television advertising on children's food behaviors; television and pediatric obesity, with effects on children's dietary intake and physical activity; and television use and children's food consumption patterns. Content analyses have shown that food is the most frequently advertised product category on children's TV. The majority of these ads target highly sweetened products, but more recently, the proportion from fast food meal promotions has been growing. Controlled studies on children's choices have consistently shown that children exposed to advertising choose advertised food products at significantly higher rates than do those not exposed. Purchase request studies have documented associations between number of hours of TV watched and number of requests from the child to the mother for specific food items, as well as the presence of those items in the home. Greater TV use has been associated with higher intakes of energy, fat, sweet and salty snacks, and carbonated beverages and lower intakes of fruit and vegetables. Several large studies have documented associations between number of hours of TV watched and both the prevalence and incidence of obesity. The combination of lifestyle factors that accompany heavy television use appear to place children at risk of obesity and poor nutritional status.

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006 Apr;160(4):436-42.
When children eat what they watch: impact of television viewing on dietary intake in youth.
Wiecha JL, Peterson KE, Ludwig DS, Kim J, Sobol A, Gortmaker SL.

Departments of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. jwiecha@hsph.harvard.edu

OBJECTIVES: To test whether increased television viewing is associated with increased total energy intake and with increased consumption of foods commonly advertised on television, and to test whether increased consumption of these foods mediates the relationship between television viewing and total energy intake. DESIGN: Prospective observational study with baseline (fall 1995) and follow-up (spring 1997) measures of youth diet, physical activity, and television viewing. We used food advertising data to identify 6 food groups for study (sweet baked snacks, candy, fried potatoes, main courses commonly served as fast food, salty snacks, and sugar-sweetened beverages). SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Five public schools in 4 communities near Boston. The sample included 548 students (mean age at baseline, 11.70 years; 48.4% female; and 63.5% white). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in total energy intake and intake of foods commonly advertised on television from baseline to follow-up. RESULTS: After adjusting for baseline covariates, each hour increase in television viewing was associated with an additional 167 kcal/d (95% confidence interval, 136-198 kcal/d; P<.001) and with increases in the consumption of foods commonly advertised on television. Including changes in intakes of these foods in regression models provided evidence of their mediating role, diminishing or rendering nonsignificant the associations between change in television viewing and change in total energy intake. CONCLUSIONS: Increases in television viewing are associated with increased calorie intake among youth. This association is mediated by increasing consumption of calorie-dense low-nutrient foods frequently advertised on television.

Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2009 Jan 30;6:7.
Does television viewing predict dietary intake five years later in high school students and young adults?
Barr-Anderson DJ, Larson NI, Nelson MC, Neumark-Sztainer D, Story M.

School of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota, 207 Cooke Hall, 1900 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. barra027@umn.edu.

ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: Prior research has found that television viewing is associated with poor diet quality, though little is known about its long-term impact on diet, particularly during adolescence. This study examined the associations between television viewing behavior with dietary intake five years later. METHODS: Survey data, which included television viewing time and food frequency questionnaires, were analyzed for 564 middle school students (younger cohort) and 1366 high school students (older cohort) who had complete data available at Time 1 (1998-1999) and five years later at Time 2 (mean age at Time 2, 17.2 +/- 0.6 and 20.5 +/- 0.8 years, respectively). Regression models examined longitudinal associations between Time 1 television viewing behavior and Time 2 dietary intake adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, Time 1 dietary intake, and Time 2 total daily energy intake. RESULTS: Respondents were categorized as limited television users (<2>/=5 hours/daily). Among the younger cohort, Time 1 heavy television viewers reported lower fruit intake and higher sugar-sweetened beverage consumption than the other two groups. Among the older cohort, watching five or more hours of television per day at Time 1, predicted lower intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grain and calcium-rich foods, and higher intakes of trans fat, fried foods, fast food menu items, snack products, and sugar-sweetened beverages (products commonly advertised on television) five years later. CONCLUSION: Television viewing in middle and high school predicted poorer dietary intake five years later. Adolescents are primary targets of advertising for fast food restaurants, snack foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages, which may influence their food choices. Television viewing, especially during high school, may have long-term effects on eating choices and contribute to poor eating habits in young adulthood.

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for Feb 15, 2009

2009-02-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

This week’s homework get’s back to exercise content.
For this week (and of course, beyond, if you so desire):
Each day at wake-up, sometime between noon - 2pm, and right before bed do 10 reps of the
“Sit/Squat on Heels w/ Stick Reach to “V””
This is the first exercise on my exercise web-page at drtri.com/videos
Remember to breathe comfortably through the entire exercise. It doesn’t matter if you breathe in or out during a particular part of the movement, just breathe comfortably.
Do this in as quiet an environment as possible. If that means you have to grab a broom from the cleaning/janitor room at work and escape in to the restroom, then make it happen...
So, 3 times per day do 10 reps of the exercise.

No real point to this, except what you create in that time.
(actually, there are a lot of good points to doing this throughout the day, I will just let you find out what they are for you...)

Until next week,
MRoss

A Take-Home item from the RoadRunner Lecture

2009-02-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

So my notes from the RoadRunner Lecture "Performance Eating for Endurance Activities" are simply notes for me and don't mean much to anyone else reading them. Merely outline headers as prompts for me on the information that I wanted to share. But, here is one of the main take-home items from the overall information:
Reduce Inflammation for increased Endurance Capacity in Life.
Here's why and here's how...

The Why.
When it comes to food and our bodies there are two major factors that underline everything else: "Absorption and Utilization".
Basically, in order to 'utilize' anything that we consume, we need to be able to effectively (and hopefully efficiently) 'absorb' the food, water, vitamin, supplement, etc. into our body through our gastrointestinal tract. In order to rebuild muscle, rehydrate, and/or heal from injury or working out, we need to be able to get the nutrients into the bloodstream and then dispersed to the correct tissue or organ.
This happens through food or supplement being broken down into it's basic components (protein, carbohydrate, fat, water, vitamin, and/or mineral) and binding to the appropriate receptors on the intestinal lining. If the item does not bind to the appropriate receptor then it continues through the intestinal tract and comes out as an "expensive urine or bowel movement". Expensive because the high quality, organic, "free-range", grass-fed, or expensive supplement or vitamin goes straight through the body and is not put to good use.

One of the two ways that Inflammation can negatively affect your Endurance Capacity is to inhibit the absorption of the food/supplement item.
The lining of your intestinal tract has millions of tiny finger-like projections, called villi, that have the receptors for the basic components of food to be absorbed through on their surface. Using a hand and finger-like analogy, these receptors are all over each finger including down in the webbing between the fingers/villi. In the presence of an irritating substance, these villi become irritated and inflamed and much like a hand swelling up from inflammation, the receptors are 'covered up' by the surface of the swollen finger(s) on either side. The number of receptors that are available and accessible for the food components to be absorbed through are significantly reduced. So, as an example, if there are 100 items to be absorbed, the reduced number of accessible receptors means that perhaps only 50 of the items will be absorbed. Less absorbed means less transported through the intestinal lining and into the bloodstream and therefore, less utilized. So, whatever 'expensive' supplement or food you take in is not fully absorbed and therefore not fully utilized. A specific example might be someone who wants to benefit from a specific and researched supplement X. The research says that the correct amount of X to take in order to see benefits is 2 grams. Well, with the scenario outlined above, the 2 grams is consumed, but only 1 gram of X may be absorbed and therefore the benefit will not be seen. The conclusion might be, "The supplement X does not work for me...". When in fact it would work if it was properly absorbed.

The second way in which Inflammation can negatively affect your Endurance Capacity is through a protein secreted by the Liver and fat cells called CrP (C-Reactive Protein). CrP is secreted in the presence of inflammation which the body interprets as irritation and/or injury. CrP has been linked to increase occurrence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. Bad stuff to say the least and big detriments to Endurance Capacity. Irritating, and therefore inflamming, the intestinal tract can increase the production of CrP which causes a myriad of other health problems which negatively affects your Endurance Capacity.

The How.
How do you decrease the likelihood that this will happen?
Simple, eat "Food".
Food, made up of protein, carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals is easily absorbed and utilized by the body because the intestinal tract does not get irritated when it is consumed.
What does irritate the intestinal tract is "non-Food".

Here is a short list of "non-Food" items that irritate and inflame the intestinal tract:
Partially Hydrogenated ______
Modified ______ Starch
Autolyzed ________ Extract (MSG)
Hydrolyzed _________ Protein
MonoSodium Glutamate (MSG)
MaltoDextrin (MSG)
Artificial Flavor
Artificial Color
Acesulfames
Artificial Sweetener
Aspartame
Sucralose
Phenylalanine
__________ Benzoate
Red, Blue, Yellow
Sometimes Natural Flavor (depending on the source can be MSG)
Sometimes Wheat
Sometimes Dairy
For these last two, I recommend if you have a question to see a Naturopath who can do a complete exam and find out what "non-Foods" cause inflammation in your intestine.

So do your best to reduce or eliminate these "non-Food" items from your diet. So that anything you consume will be 'utilized' to the utmost and increase your ability to fuel your system and thereby improve your Endurance Capacity.

I hope you find this information helpful and/or useful.

MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork Feb. 8th 2009

2009-02-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

This week is a little different than other weeks.

Sometime this week, go watch kids play for at least 30 minutes.
A couple things, of course...
For the 30 minutes (or more) you have to completely focus on the group of kids that are playing, no distractions.
Turn off/silence your cell phone, no talking to anyone else, no eating, doing work, answering emails – you get the idea.
For many of you who have kids this may seem silly or not very novel. But, I would ask, when is the last time you truly sat and focused on your kids and their behavior during play? Truly watched what they are doing and how they are reacting and interacting?

Here is the "extra credit" portion of this HomeWork:
Watch kids with special needs / developmental disabilities play for at least 30 minutes. These kids are incredible. They embrace play like no other group I have ever seen. I would suggest you watch them during a trip to the swimming pool (Mercer Island Pool has specific times set aside for these kids - http://www.nwcenter.org/Ent-PoolsLocs.asp ).
This is the most fun and carefree (mostly) time that anyone has ever had in their entire life.

The pure interest in the moment of play and details that they notice while playing are right up there with any meditation endeavor I have ever experienced. I (and peers/teachers) attempt for years to achieve a sense of truly being "present in the moment" like these kids are able to achieve in an instant.

There is a line from one of my favorite poem that goes-

"...if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human..."*

These kids completely let ecstasy fill them to the tips of their fingers and toes!

Okay, so go watch some kids, even the enlightened ones, play!

Until next week,
MRoss

P.S.
I will be at RoadRunner Sports (GreenLake, Seattle, WA) this Wednesday (the 11th) evening from 6:30 – 7:30 pm giving a lecture on Performance Eating for Endurance Activities. It is FREE and anyone who eats food is invited!!!

*The Invitation, Oriah Mountain Dreamer

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork - Feb 1, 2009

2009-02-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

The most important meal of the day..... Part 2

Everyday this week eat breakfast that would make Grandma, Nutritionists, & Exercise Physiologists proud!

Here’s what to eat:

1/4 of your body weight (kg) in grams of protein
2/3 of your body weight (kg) in grams of carbohydrates
5-10 g of good fat.

Here’s the details (and example):

For DrTri ~ 200lb (91kg)
~22 g Protein
~61 g Carbohydrates
~10 g Fat

This would be
3 or 4 eggs
1 – 1 1/4 cup Oatmeal
1 Tbsp Cod Liver Oil

OR

Whey Protein
Oatmeal
Berries
Cod Liver Oil

You get the idea.....

This is a hearty meal that many people are not used to. It may feel like tooooooo much food to eat, so just make it and then take it along with you if you can’t eat it all right there in your morning breakfast 14 minute window...
Only rule is that you have to eat it within 2 hours (max) after waking...
If you workout first thing in the morning this would be perfect (it does for me). You make oatmeal with berries, cod liver oil, and whey protein, and put it into a container to eat after your morning workout... Not as warm but still warm enough to satisfy your stomach and body!!!

SO if you are already getting up 14 minutes early (or are recently practiced at this endeavor) then this should not be a problem.
14 minutes gives you more than enough time to make this breakfast.

Also, that is not ALL you can eat. I also eat (drink) coffee, rice milk, etc. etc.

Have a great week!
MRoss

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork - Jan 25th, 2009

2009-01-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

Hello and good Sunday!

Don’t worry, Part II of last week’s homework is on it’s way, next week....
[ http://drtriblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/drtri-weekly-health-fitness-homework_18.html ]

But, before we go there, let’s revisit the HomeWork of Dec 28th, 2008.
Here is the main excerpt:

Get a pad of paper or a notebook and keep it with you (edit).
On the first page write down your:
1 month goal
6 month goal
1 year goal.

Then, each morning and evening, plus whenever you think about it during the day, re-write these 3 goals on the next clean page. You are free to modify them how ever you like (they are YOUR goals, anyway...).
The goals can be related to anything you like, health, wealth, fitness, etc. etc. etc.
It is important that you re-write these at least twice a day (once upon waking and once right before you go to sleep), and whenever else you either think about them or want to modify them during the day.
This is one of those things that you also do not want to share with anyone else. Keep them to yourself, until you achieve them (which you will if you follow these instructions).
This really works. Honest, I have tried this numerous times and each time it works eerily well.
The caveat is that you have to be VERY disciplined in performing this at least twice a day (in this case, more IS better).

Ask yourself, honestly!, have you been doing this?!?!?
For those of you who are new to the HomeWork list...
Start now.
The complete HomeWork is on my blog - drtriblog.blogspot.com

This week’s HomeWork is to re-commit yourself to follow the HomeWork of Dec 28th...
Jan 28th is coming up this week, so those of you who have been disciplined and following this will (or already have) be on track to see what happens!!!
It doesn’t really matter why ‘it works’ (the title of a great little book that discusses this exact same thing), the hours we could spend pondering the bio-psychology of why goofy stuff like this works would end up wasting an entire Sunday.... Just try it, and see what happens!!!
I can assure you it is not mystical, mysterious, or woo-woo. There is hard science that explains why stuff like this works. In my opinion, people find that boring, so it is “more fun” to create magical reasons why simple scientific things like this work. Nothing wrong with that. Just know that there is “magic” and that there is “science”. And from time to time the two overlap... This happens to be science based.

Re-read the entire homework and re-commit, or for the new HomeWork people commit, to doing this.
The original HomeWork said to keep the ‘notebook’ with you all week. I would suggest that you keep this with you all the time, for at least a year. How cool would that be to have the same notebook that you carry in your briefcase or glove compartment, etc. all year?!?!?

Simple HomeWork (sort of). Just a review of a good thing to do!

Have a great week,
MRoss

P.S.
It is up to you if you want to keep getting up 14 minutes earlier this week. I would suggest that you do......

And don’t forget you can add this HomeWork/my blog to your iGoogle homepage.

http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=http://drtriblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default&source=imag

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for Jan 18, 2009

2009-01-18T11:52:00.000-08:00

The most important meal of the day...Part 1

Yes, we have all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So, why is it the meal that “usually” get’s the least amount of time allocated for it!?!?!
We are in such a rush to get out the door and to whatever we need to get to, that our breakfast commonly takes a backseat to everything else. Not always, but quite often...
This week is Part 1 of a 2-part HomeWork.
Every day this week get up 14 minutes earlier than you normally do.
So I guess the HomeWork is to set your alarm today, RIGHT NOW!, for 14 minutes earlier than you have it set for this week.
Then, when you get up ONLY 14 minutes earlier, you have plenty of time to make breakfast, or meditate, or do back extensions, or be intimate, or whatever you would like to do with the extra time...
I don’t care what you do during those 14 minutes, just do something good for yourself.
And, to that end, we all know that a healthy breakfast is a great start to a day, so “why not?”...
I don’t care what you eat for breakfast (this week), just ‘make Grandma Gladys proud’!

Have a great week!
MRoss

P.S.
To get on the email homework list go to drtri.com/homework.html

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for Jan 11, 2009

2009-01-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for Jan 11, 2009

This week:

Each day, WALK for 10 minutes outside.

Simple. Easy. Too Easy?
C’mon Mike, that is kinda silly isn’t it. I mean, I walk and run and climb stairs and bike and etc. etc. etc. more that that everyday. What the heck is a 10 min. walk going to do?!?!?!?
The point of this week’s HomeWork is not for the exercise benefits of walking.
The point is just to casually WALK for 10 minutes outside and breathe and relax your thoughts (or not, or think of really profound things and new inventions) and walk just for the absolute sake of walking... I encourage you not to plan your trip other than “turning around at 5 minutes”. Head out from your home or work and just start walking. Decide to turn left or right when you get to each intersection or ‘Y’ in the path.
No cell phone. No briefcase or purse. No iPod. Nothing. Just you and your walk.
Think of this as a completely pointless endeavor, and see if anything happens. Probably nothing will happen. Good.
Calling it a ‘moving meditation’, call it a ‘breathe of fresh air’, call it whatever you like.

We don’t get outside as often during the winter as we do during the spring, summer, and/or fall. This is a reason to get outside for 10 min each day.

Have a great week,
MRoss

P.S.
To get on the email homework list go to drtri.com/homework.html

DrTri Winter Endurance Conditioning Class Session II

2009-01-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

January 22 - March 11th
6:00 - 7:00 am Thursdays (occasional Wednesday)
Lee's Martial Arts Studio, West Seattle (same place, same time!)
8 Classes
$80.00

Session I filled up within 6 days. So if you are interested, call or email Debbie in the office immediately!

The winter class is very similar to the summer class, but is different enough that it is a challenging change.
There are a bunch of things that I am able to do with (and to) you that we can't do very well out in the grass...
We will be bare foot/socks so the balance and coordination movements are really good!
I will be limiting the size of the class again!

More info at drtri.com/class.html

Contact Debbie in the office to sign up:
debbie@drtri.com
206.932.7943

[Specific class dates are: Jan 22, 29, Feb 5, 12, 18, 26, Mar 5, 11]

DrTri Weekly HomeWork Jan 4, 2009 / SuperFeet Modification

2009-01-03T07:33:00.000-08:00

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for Jan. 4, 2009

This week's HomeWork is focused on your feet!

SuperFeet/Orthotic/Insole Modification

Sometime this week do one, or all, of the following three things:

1. If your ‘activity based shoes’ (i.e. Running shoes, tennis shoes, hiking shoes/boots, etc.) are more than 3 months old, go buy yourself a new pair. Also, remove the flimsy insole that comes with your new footwear and buy a pair of new insoles – SuperFeet, SofSole, RoadRunner Sports brand, etc. If you have a custom insole/orthotic already, then you are already set. Modify your insole/orthotic/Superfeet according to the above video. This is assuming that you don’t already have a “tranverse arch support” (watch the video and you will see what that means) built into your SuperFeet/SoftSole/Orthotic/Insole.

2. If your shoes are less than 3 months old, then simply, remove the flimsy insole that comes with your new footwear and buy a pair of new insoles – SuperFeet, SofSole, RoadRunner Sports brand, etc. If you have a custom insole/orthotic already, then you are already set. Modify your insole/orthotic/Superfeet according to the above video. This is assuming that you don’t already have a “tranverse arch support” (watch the video and you will see what that means) built into your SuperFeet/SoftSole/Orthotic/Insole.

3. Schedule yourself a foot massage. This may sound a little off-putting to a few of you. But, believe me you will immediately see the benefit. Now, I am not talking about rubby-dub foot massage that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy while they are doing it. I am talking about a serious ‘get in there and work over the knots in your feet’ type massage. Now I know at least a few of you are not excited about someone touching your feet. All I can say is, “Get over it”. Your feet are one of the most important parts of your body and they take a lot of abuse. You will benefit greatly from having the muscles in your feet worked over.

There are many very good massage therapists out there, and here are a few of my favorites around the Seattle area:

Leah Bowman 206.853-3158 My personal favorite.

Seth Bennet 206.443-3933

Judy Phleger 206.443-3933

Wendy Sobol 206.547-1938

For those of you in other areas, call around and make sure you find a massage therapist that at the very least does serious ‘deep tissues work’. If they do ART, Soma, or Rolfing, even better!

Bellevue area people feel free to recommend your personal favorite and I will pass it on.

Have a great week!
MRoss

P.S.
To get on the email homework list go to drtri.com/homework.html

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork 12/28/08

2008-12-28T08:37:00.001-08:00

So in the spirit of this week being New Years and “lots of people” creating resolutions, I bring you this week’s HomeWork:

Get a pad of paper or a notebook and keep it with you all week.
On the first page write down your:
1 month goal
6 month goal
1 year goal.

Then, each morning and evening, plus whenever you think about it during the day, re-write these 3 goals on the next clean page. You are free to modify them how ever you like (they are YOUR goals, anyway...).
The goals can be related to anything you like, health, wealth, fitness, etc. etc. etc.
It is important that you re-write these at least twice a day (once upon waking and once right before you go to sleep), and whenever else you either think about them or want to modify them during the day.
This is one of those things that you also do not want to share with anyone else. Keep them to yourself, until you achieve them (which you will if you follow these instructions).
This really works. Honest, I have tried this numerous times and each time it works eerily well.
The caveat is that you have to be VERY disciplined in performing this at least twice a day (in this case, more IS better).

It really makes sense that if you are disciplined enough to do this everyday, then you will naturally be more disciplined in other areas of your life and therefore achieve the goals. This is not some “magic” or “secret”, it is simply using your mind/subconscious/whatever to keep background awareness on an item (or 3)...

So this HomeWork obviously is not meant to last just one week. In order to achieve the 1 year goal, you would need to follow this for one year. If you choose to do that, great!
Otherwise, it is very interesting what doing this for only one week will do. I have seen, with myself and others, just 1 week to 10 days of doing this result in achieving the 1 month goal at least.
At the very least it is interesting to see how the goals change over the course of the week...

Also, remember, ‘goals are simply dreams with timelines attached to them’, so if you are going to dream, dream big.
The worst that can happen is that you can achieve the goal, and then regret not ‘dreaming’ up a bigger/better goal.
From personal experience I can tell you that when I have tried this with a goal that seemed a bit ‘over the top’ I have achieved it, EVERY TIME. Just shows what disciplined attention to something can do...
Here is an example of what you might write on a page (and then re-write on the next page with any modifications):
1 month - buy a new house
6 month – lose 10 pounds
1 year – 1:35 half marathon

Good Luck and Happy New Year!!!

MRoss

P.S.
To get on the email homework list go to drtri.com/homework.html

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork 12/21/08

2008-12-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

Good Snow Day to you all!!!

This week's HomeWork is very simple, and perhaps very challenging...
Pick one day this week, I strongly recommend the 22nd or 23rd and cleanse
yourself!
For the rest of the week, support this one day cleanse with eliminating all
"un-clean" food from your diet. (More info at the bottom of this HomeWork)
Not only would I like you to ensure that you take a shower (you know who you
are...), but also cleanse your insides.
This has 3 levels, depending on your experience and/or preference.

Level 1
Fast. Eat nothing all day.
Only drink 1/2 your body weight in oz. of water (for a 150 lb person, 75 oz
of water) and take your normal course of prescription medications, etc.
This includes no vitamins or supplements.
This is the most advanced level and should only be done if you have done
this before or are very clean in your diet already. Very clean in your diet
means that you eat no modified, autolyzed, hydrolyzed, benzoate, etc etc.

Level 2
Eat only fresh, uncooked vegetable and fruits.
A raw food sort of a cleanse. No cooked food.
Included in this level is to also drink 1/2 your body weight in oz. of
water.
Again, make sure you take all your regular prescription meds, but no
vitamins or supplements.
This level is for the person who due to health reasons (diabetes, etc.) can
not fast all day.
This level is also for the person who does not have a 'clean' diet, as
discussed above, and wants to 'clean up their act'...
This level will have a significant impact, especially if you have never done
anything like this before. Look forward to your bowel movements!

Level 3
"The beginner level"
If you have never played with really cleaning up your diet, this is the
level for you.
This is just a very strict day representative of the rest of the week.
Eat only "unprocessed" foods.
That means nothing from a box or can. You can cook, eat whatever you like
as long as it does not involve any processing other than what you perform
yourself.
Just like the primary colors of a palette, I call this the "primary foods
diet". Some people call this "shopping around the outside of the store".
All the fresh foods are on the outside perimeter of the store, and not down
the aisles.
[A point of clarification for example, eggs are not processed right of the
carton. Cooking them is "your process", so it is okay]
No coffee, no tea, no supplements or vitamins, etc.
Take your normal course of prescription medications, etc.

In addition to the above one day cleanse, for the remainder of the week
eliminate all of the following:

Dairy
Wheat
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Glucose-Fructose "anything"
Partially Hydrogenated "anything"
Brominated "anything"
Modified "anything" Starch
Autolyzed "anything" Extract
Hydrolyzed "anything" Protein
MonoSodium Glutamate (MSG)
MaltoDextrin (MSG)
Artificial Flavor
Natural Flavor
Acesulfames
Artificial Sweetener
Aspartame
Sucralose
Phenylalanine
Benzoate
Inverted "anything"

Believe me, this is NOT THAT DIFFICULT. On a day to day basis, I adhere to
this 99%. That remainder 1% is because sometimes I am not sure when I go
out to dinner.
Except for coffee. That might add up to the 1% also. I LOVE COFFEE...

Have fun with this and if you have any specific questions, feel free to
email me!

Happy Festivus!
MRoss

DrTri Endurance Conditioning Workout DVD

2008-12-15T05:52:00.000-08:00

This is the video version of my DrTri Endurance Conditioning Class. It is essentially a 'virtual one-on-one workout' that you follow along. Very simple, very straightforward, and very challenging. At first glance it looks a lot easier than it is. Numerous people have commented that they were surprised at how much they sweated, how challenging it was, and how sore (good sore) they were 2 days later.
This workout is designed to increase the functional stability and fitness of what I refer to as your fulcrum(s). Your fulcrum(s) is/are the stabilizing areas/joints of your body that you 'lever' against to create movement. The major fulcrums of your body are the back, hips, and shoulders. These areas are designed to be strong and durable so that you can swim, bike, run, etc. utilizing your levers, i.e. your arms and legs. The majority of injuries that I see in my clinic (especially in endurance athletes) arise from weakness of the fulcrums of the body and the levers are "overpowering" the fulcrums. Not only does this lead to injury, but it also creates a very inefficient bio-mechanical machine. This may be fine for one or two repetitions of an activity, but spread that out over a few miles or a long day and the inefficiency magnifies and creates undue fatigue and/or injury.

The only 'equipment' that you need is a heavy object (dumbbell, medicine ball, etc.) and some reference objects (cones, plastic cups, etc.). Again, you will be impressed with how intense and challenging the workout is with only this basic equipment.

You can order the DVD here or call the office at 206.932.7943

Seriously, it is a great workout that is very effective and great for winter training to prepare your body for the long miles ahead during the spring and summer!

-DrTri

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork 12/15/08 Video

2008-12-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

This is the video to accompany the DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for the week of 12/15 to 12/21.

This week's homework is:
Every morning, first thing when you wake up, perform the DrTri Daily Double - A combination of 'Moving Hips Up and Down' with 'Scorpions'. This is a dynamic flexibility movement exercise to get your low back and hips activated and mobilized for the day. Breathe in on the hips up in the air and breathe out on the hips down towards the ground. Breathe comfortably during the Scorpions aspect. Perform 10 repetitions of each part of the movement. 10 hips up and down, and 10 scorpions on each leg.
GO SLOW and controlled!
During the Moving Hips Up and Down, allow your hips to relax at the bottom and hang from your shoulders. On the way up, contract your abs.
For the Scorpions you can go straight up with the leg or cross-over leading with the toes towards the fingertips, depending on your comfort and personal flexibility...
Ideally, do this in a silent environment, so that you may also have a little time for your mind to be quiet before you jump into the day.

Have Fun,
DrTri

[To receive the free DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork each week, simply got to www.drtri.com/homework.html and click on the 'sign up' button. Or send an email to homework@drtri.com with the words "DrTri HomeWork" in the subject line]

DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness Homework

2008-11-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of "Fight Club" the movie and other "newsletter" type items that have interested me over the years, I am starting the "DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness Homework".

This is free and you sign up to receive in your email each week a new homework item for that following week.'

Some homework will be easy (i.e. drink a glass of water each hour that you are awake) and others will be difficult (i.e. sit quietly with your eyes closed each hour for 5 minutes) and some will be right in the middle (i.e. walk 5 minutes each day).

They will all be somehow related to physical, mental, gastrointestinal health and/or fitness in some way.

To get on the email homework list go to drtri.com/homework.html

See what happens!

-DrTri

P.S.

Don't forget, the winter indoor session of class starts December 2nd!!!
[see below]

Winter '08-'09 Endurance Conditioning Class

2008-11-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

Session III [click here for more info.]
DrTri Winter Endurance Conditioning Class
6-7am, Tuesdays (with an occasional Wednesday)
December 2, 10, 16, 23, 31
January 6, 13, 20, 27
February 4th
Lee's Martial Arts Studio (same place, same time!)
10 Classes
$100.00

The winter class is very similar to the summer class, but is different enough that it is a challenging change.
There are a bunch of things that I am able to do with (and to) you that we can't do very well out in the grass...
We will be bare foot/socks and the balance and coordination movements are really good!
I will be limiting the size of the class again!

Contact Debbie in the office to sign up:
debbie@drtri.com
206.932.7943

Photos from previous classes:

C-Reactive Protein? What is that?

2008-10-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

C-Reactive Protein test to screen for heart disease: Why Do We Need Another Test?

(This article was first printed in the February, 2003 issue of the Harvard Health Letter. For more information or to order, please go to http://health.harvard.edu/health.)

The predictive powers of a cholesterol test only go so far. If your LDL is low, your C-reactive protein may be a better sign of impending heart trouble.

The gap between knowing what's good for you and actually doing it can be huge, especially when it comes to something like getting exercise. (Never underestimate the appeal of the sedentary life.) Many of us need a warning-some might say a bit of a kick in the pants-before we'll change our ways and get with a heart-healthy program.

Cholesterol Tests

For decades, cholesterol testing has served as that warning for many. An elevated level of "bad" LDL cholesterol has been just the warning people needed to change their ways. It has played that role for several reasons. People like tests because the results seem objective. Reliable measurement of cholesterol is easy and relatively inexpensive. It makes sense biologically. LDL cholesterol, a protein-wrapped package containing fat and cholesterol, tends to slip out of the bloodstream and lodge in blood vessel walls, forming the plaque that leads to clots and heart attacks.

And it makes sense statistically. The correlation between lowering your LDL and lowering your chances of having a heart attack or developing other forms of heart disease is well documented. Indeed, exercise and dietary changes are good for the heart partly because they lower LDL cholesterol levels.

The Blind Spot

But for all its virtues, cholesterol testing is seriously flawed. Research has shown that only about 50% of the people who have heart attacks have high LDL. If LDL levels are supposed to be an alarm, then it's not going off for half of those who might benefit from a wake-up call.

This shortcoming presents two problems. First, and most obviously, many people at risk are being missed. So there's a need for a different test that will "capture" those who slip through the fingers of cholesterol screening.

Second, because cholesterol screening does miss so many incipient heart attacks, it suggests that cholesterol doesn't adequately explain heart disease.

Inflammation seems to be that explanation, and C-reactive protein (CRP), a by-product of inflammation, may provide the test.

Inflammation Causes Heart Attacks

Experts who study blood vessels, plaque, and heart attacks in minute detail have been developing an inflammatory explanation for heart attacks. They've described a process quite different from the clogged plumbing analogy. Blood vessels aren't solid pipes, but slender tubes of layered, living tissue, some of it quite delicate. LDL cholesterol doesn't simply lodge in arterial walls-it injures them. And like injuries elsewhere in the body, this stirs up an inflammatory response. Swarms of cytokines, macrophages, and other cells swoop in. They enlarge and transform deposits of LDL cholesterol into accumulations of fat-laden foam cells sealed by fibrous caps of collagen.

Other inflammatory molecules can so weaken a fibrous cap that eventually it bursts open. The contents of the plaque spill out and activate clotting factors in the blood. A massive blood clot forms. The result: a blocked artery and a heart attack.

Why C-Reactive Protein?

If inflammation explains heart attacks, then a test that helps doctors gauge inflammatory activity inside the blood vessels might be valuable. CRP is nothing new to medical science. The protein was discovered over 70 years ago.

Researchers quickly figured out that it was part of the immune or inflammatory response because levels soared in response to Streptococcus A infection. In fact, doctors have used CRP measurements for decades to monitor patients with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other conditions related to the immune system.

But as a way to screen for heart disease risk? That was a different story. All the momentum and much of the science used to be behind cholesterol testing. Now, however, CRP testing seems ready to catch on for several reasons.

People have heard or read about the reasoning behind it.

The inflammatory explanation of atherosclerosis and heart attacks has trickled down from rarefied research circles to doctors and the public. Dozens of newspaper, magazine, and newsletter articles have been written about it. People are more likely to get a test-maybe even demand one-if they have some understanding of what's being measured and why. The same goes for doctors.

It's a good predictor of heart disease.

Even if heart attacks were caused by inflammation, CRP testing wouldn't be useful unless it's proved to be a good predictor. In other words, studies have to show that there's a tight correlation between high C-reactive protein levels and the chances of having a heart attack.

To make a long story short, that's just what a series of studies published in prestigious journals has shown. One, in the Nov. 14, 2002, New England Journal of Medicine , concluded that CRP outperforms LDL cholesterol as a predictor of cardiovascular risk. In addition, the authors found that the two tests identify different high-risk groups, so using both is better than relying on either alone. (If you're interested in the details of this and other CRP studies, visit our Web site at http://www.health.harvard.edu/health.)

It's a better predictor than other measures of inflammation.

There are other ways to measure inflammation. But a study in the March 23, 2000, New England Journal of Medicine concluded that C-reactive protein was a better predictor of cardiovascular events (heart attacks, strokes, bypass surgery, or angioplasty) than other inflammatory markers.

It's sensitive.

Until fairly recently, the test available to doctors couldn't reliably measure low (below 10 milligrams per liter) CRP levels. Tests are now sensitive enough to measure levels of 1 milligram per liter or less. That's a crucial development because it's fairly minor differences at those lo w levels that sort out cardiovascular risk.

It's practical.

The test costs $12-$16, and it takes only a small amount of blood. In fact, the same blood sample could be sent to a lab for both cholesterol and C-reactive protein testing.

Some cutoffs have already been established.

Without preset cutoffs, doctors wouldn't know how to interpret CRP test results. Dr. Paul Ridker, a Harvard researcher, was principal investigator on most of the crucial CRP studies and is co-inventor on related patents. He says it's now possible to classify CRP levels in terms of low, moderate, or high risk.

Less than 1 milligram per liter of blood corresponds to a low risk for heart attack or other cardiovascular problems; 1-3 milligrams per liter corresponds to moderate risk; and over 3 milligrams, to high risk. These cutoffs might change with more research (as have those for cholesterol), but they're a starting point.

You can do something about high levels.

Imagine your doctor telling you that a newfangled test of inflammation shows that you have a worrisome level of a telltale protein, but, um, there isn't much you-or she-can do about it. That wouldn't be a popular or helpful test, even if it were a perfect prognosticator of heart attacks.

A big reason behind the growing enthusiasm for C-reactive protein tests is that levels can be lowered. The statin drugs (Lipitor, Zocor, other brands) made their name by lowering LDL; research has shown that they also lower C-reactive protein levels. Exercise is a great way to bring down your CRP level; losing weight also seems to work.

What's Next?

C-reactive protein "hawks" think the time has come when everyone should get the test and that it may eventually supplant cholesterol testing. "Doves" say that there just isn't enough evidence about how doctors should treat high levels, even if there is a link to cardiovascular risk.

As we went to press (2003), neither the American Heart Association (AHA) nor the American College of Cardiology had made a formal recommendation on C-reactive protein. Published comments from AHA leaders hint that it might stake out a middle ground and suggest testing people who fall into an intermediate-risk group because of their age (60 and older), weight, or blood pressure. AHA and other guidelines will influence how doctors will use the CRP test during the next year or so. Ultimately, though, the fate of the test rests with prospective, randomized studies of CRP-lowering interventions still in progress.

High CRP/Low LDL

Dr. Ridker's November 2002 study comparing C-reactive protein and LDL found that cardiovascular risk was actually greater for people in the high CRP/low LDL group than for those in the low CRP/high LDL group. Clearly, cholesterol testing would have missed people in the high CRP/low LDL group.

If these results hold up, CRP testing might be most advisable for people with low LDL levels. Because the test is inexpensive, doctors might just order both tests right off the bat rather than wait for the cholesterol results.

Coming Full Circle

No test, no matter how good it is, changes anyone's health. It's what we do in response that matters. Statins have put a pharmaceutical face on heart disease prevention, but the old truths about getting exercise, eating right, and not smoking still hold. If the CRP test gets more people to follow that advice, then it may be worthwhile.

Stretching!

2008-09-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

For years I have been saying that there exists no studies to support static stretching, and in fact there have been numerous studies that have demonstrated negative benefits. To date, this is still true. I have found no consistent literature to demonstrate positive benefits of static stretching. I still welcome any and all input on this subject, as long as we are talking about quality research and not anecdotal information. To that end - I have found a study that, at first glance, would appear to show a positive benefit to static stretching.
In the October 2007 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (an ACSM peer-reviewed journal) Kokkonen et al. found that 19 people who participated in a 40min 3 day/wk bout of static stretching of the lower extremeties had significant increase in performance of various exercise activities, WHEN COMPARED TO A CONTROL GROUP OF 19 PEOPLE "WHO DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN ANY KIND OF REGULAR EXERCISE ROUTINE" (Kokonnen et al., 2007).
So, static stretching is indeed better than laying around like a slug. Does the ridiculous-ness of this need to be expanded upon?!?!
That is akin to saying that playing chess as a form of exercise is better than laying around like a slug. Essentially comparing apples and oranges. Some complicating factors that jumped out at me where the psychological and neuro-muscular aspects. The attention paid to the static stretching group must contribute a great deal of psychological enhancement. Simply through the process of some sort of activity. In other words, we know that ANY activity is better than none. Even the worst activity there is, will have a positive effect when compared to NO activity. Beyond that, the neuro-muscular effect of activating muscles and tendon receptors will undoubtedly have some sort of positive effect when compared to a group with no activation of these same receptors.
The more important question is not static stretching vs. inactivity, but rather static stretching vs. different forms of activity (which has been studied previously) as well as static stretching and it's relationship to health, fitness, and injury rate in active people.
So, I would further (and still) support that a walking program, for example, is always better than a static stretching program for inactive people. Functional relevance aside, the walking program would be a more productive program in relation to real-life activities and social integration.

1. KOKKONEN, J., A. G. NELSON, C. ELDREDGE, and J. B. WINCHESTER. Chronic Static Stretching Improves Exercise
Performance. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 39, No. 10, pp. 1825–1831, 2007.

Back Extensions

2008-09-25T19:33:00.001-07:00

Of course, no DrTri Exercise list would be complete without perhaps the single best exercise for human beings in our modern world. If that sounds like some crazy outrageous claim, simply look at the literature and injury rates among people (especially Americans). Low back pain is beyond epidemic level and there are Chiropractors, Back Pain Clinics, Physical Therapists, Alternative Healers, etc. etc. on almost every corner. Their results are all very similar; mediocre at best (again, look at the research!). Still to date, the only treatment/exercise that has been shown to be VERY effective at treating and/or preventing low back pain is the static and dynamic versions of the "Biering-Sorensen" exercise. In other words, the Back Extension Bench exercise. Starting in 1984, with a landmark study by Biering-Sorensen that won the Volvo Award for Excellence in Research, a plethora of studies have found that this exercise is still the most effective for all phases/aspects of low back pain.

Here it is:

Have Fun!

References:
1. Good endurance of the low back prevents first-time occurrence of Low back pain in men. Also, men with over flexible low back are more liable to contract Low back pain. (Biering-Sorensen, 1984)
2. A home exercise protocol of back extension holding twice a day for 6 weeks significantly increase endurance capacity of the low back. (Moffroid, et al 1993)
3. Endurance training of the low back was found to expedite recovery from sub-acute (7-49 days duration) low back pain. (Chok et al, 1999)
4. Patients with a history of low back pain have less endurance muscles in their lower back than those without low back pain. (Mannion, et al 1997)
5. Posture has no correlation to low back pain. (Tuzun et al, 1999)
6. Tight hamstrings do not correlate to low back pain. (Hellsing, 1988)
7. Among workers with a history of low back pain poor performance on low back endurance tests predicted future back pain. (Takala et al, 2000)
8. Low back static endurance capacity is a strong predictor of risk of future low back pain. This test validated the Biering-Sorensen test of 1984. (Alaranta, Luoto, et al 1995)
9. Low back muscles in people with chronic low back pain have less endurance capacity than controls. This test validated the Biering-Sorensen test of 1984. (Ito et al, 1996)
10. The glute muscles in people with chronic low back pain have less endurance capacity than controls. (Kankaanpaa et al, 1998)
11. Poor endurance capacity of the low back is a risk indicator for low back pain. This test validated the Biering-Sorensen test of 1984. (Biering-Sorensen et al, 1989)
12. The low back endurance test can discriminate between people with and without low back pain. This test validated the Biering-Sorensen test of 1984. (Latimer et al, 1999)
13. Low back endurance capacity performance was significantly less in golfers with chronic low back pain. (Suter et al, 2001) 14. Stronger abs than low back was found to be a risk factor for low back pain. (Lee et al, 1999)
15. Low back pain patients have less endurance capacity of the low back muscles. This test validated the Biering-Sorensen test of 1984. (Taimela et al 1998)
16. A home exercise program aimed at increasing low back endurance capacity decreased low back pain as effectively as an intensive clinical program. (Kuukkanen et al 1996)
17. Range of motion tests with the back extension test predict the those with low back dysfunction and those at risk for future low back pain/dysfunction.(Allaranta, et al. 1994)

DrTri Iron Cross

2008-09-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

So anyone who knows me, has been my patient, or been coached by me has at one point or another encountered the "DrTri Iron Cross". There are two methods of doing this exercise; static and dynamic. With either method you can use a medicine ball in the 'up hand' or not. The static method is shown in the above picture without a medicine ball. For the static method you simply hold the above position balancing on a half arc or balance board - emphasizing shoulders back, chest out; bring the up leg straight out to the side with your awareness on raising the heel up and out so that you are contracting primarily the glute medius . The 'up hand' is reaching straight up and overhead towards the sky.

For the dynamic version of the "DrTri Iron Cross" reach the 'up hand' down to touch the toes of the 'down foot' (opposite foot to the hand that is up) while slowly kicking the leg/foot out straight behind you. Emphasize bending the back leg so that the heel is up towards the sky. All the while balancing with the 'down foot' on the half arc or balance board. Make sure that you don't bend the knee of the 'down foot' more than a few degrees and keep your weight primarily on your heel.

Have Fun!

Bent Over BroomStick

2008-09-25T19:20:00.002-07:00

This "exercise" was invented by Joe DeShaw one morning in the kitchen of the house when we were roommates a few years ago. I put quotes around exercise because this is not so much of an exercise for building muscular endurance or strength, but rather a mobility exercise for the shoulders and base of the neck. The Bent-Over BroomStick exercise is excellent for increasing functional capacity and dynamic posture by focusing on contracting the lower trapezius and rhomboids. The emphasis is on "Arc-Pause-Slide":
Arc: The motion of the stick out in front of the shoulders.
Pause: Make sure to pause out front to ensure that you don't round the corner and cheat.
Slide: Down the back of the head and make sure that you don't jut the chin down to get out of the way of the stick.

Each time you do this use the stick along the spine to achieve correct positioning before starting the exercise.

Have Fun!

22-Minute Routine

2008-09-25T19:20:00.001-07:00

This is a great routine for increasing muscular endurance of the trunk. I got this from Dan Nelson, MS, DC who got it from UW crew when he was rowing there. Dan and his fellow rowers (and those of us who followed in their footsteps) were doing these type of workouts years before anyone even thought of coining the phrase "CrossFit"...

1-Upright Rows
2-Dead Lifts
3-Bent Rows
4-Hang Cleans
5-Squat Thrusts
6-Military Press
7-Front Squats (or Squat Jumps)
Use one Barbell that you never release. Do 15 reps of each exercise then start over at the beginning until you have completed this 5 times through. If it takes longer than 24 minutes, use less weight next time. If it takes less than 21 minutes, use more weight next time. This does not take very much weight... I recommend for the first time you do the 22-Minute Routine use a broomstick. And also have a vomit bucket handy!

Have Fun!

Single Leg DeadLifts w/ DumbBell to Row

2008-09-25T19:19:00.001-07:00

This is "one of my favorites"! A very functional exercise that incorporates balance, flexibility, coordination, and strength. I especially like this for runners for the balance it requires on one foot while moving the other leg. Be sure to stand up tall at the top and contract the glute and hamstring of the back leg to bring the heel up as high as possible while maintaining good form. Good form includes shoulders back, chest out, low back and hips stable, as well as even hips throughout the exercise.

Have Fun!

Ty's Scorpions

2008-09-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is a great dynamic flexibility exercise for the hip flexors and spine. Ty showed this to me and I have used it almost daily for myself and with many patients/athletes.

Have Fun!

Sit-Up Jump-Ups

2008-09-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is one combination of two exercises that are great for developing power through the trunk and legs. Starting from a sit-up and going into any number of other exercise movements is a great way to increase the effectiveness of your workout.

There are two versions demonstrated here:
From the floor and from a low bench or step. From a bench or step is a great way to start doing these. Once they get too easy you can progress to the version starting from the floor.

Sit-Up Jump-Ups from a low bench/step.

Sit-Up Jump-Ups from the Floor.

Again, Sit-Up Jump-Ups from the Floor.

Have Fun!

Running Man/Woman on the 1/2 Arc

2008-09-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

This is yet another, "one of my favorites..."!
This movement/exercise is great for ankle, knee, and/or hip stability. Many studies have looked at glute activation with balance exercises on 1-leg. It is amazing how much the glute is recruited during these types of exercise/movements. This is another staple for any runners, especially distance runners. Ensure that the majority of your weight is on the mid-foot and heel of the foot that is on the half-arc.

Push-Up Hold 1-Arm Rows

2008-09-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

This is a great exercise for trunk or "fulcrum" stabilization. It has been around for awhile and called many different things, but no matter what you call it - it is a challenging exercise. Hand weights are optional and add another level of difficulty. The goal is to maintain flat, stable, and "quiet" hips while rotating through the torso and shoulders only.

The 80/20-20/80 Rule

2008-04-19T10:36:00.001-07:00

There is a common saying among consultants, coaches, and successful people, that says, “Anything you measure will improve.” The meaning is that the simple act of paying attention to something will cause it to improve. This has been tested time and time again and seems to always be the case. In fact, this is the “secret” of many consultants and coaches. Simply having your client/athlete start measuring their progress will cause their results to improve. Solid advice. However, the real power behind that “secret” is knowing how and what exactly to measure.
The simple part is measuring that which you want to improve. From this act of measuring you will enjoy pretty good results and achieve about 80% of your goal. Achieving the remaining 20% and thus enjoying great results is where the bulk of time, energy, and focus lie. Welcome to the 80/20-20/80 Rule.
The 80/20-20/80 Rule states that in order to get 80% of the results you desire requires that you do 20% of the work needed. And in order to get the remaining 20% of the results requires that you apply the remaining 80% of the work.
In other words, the act of starting to work on a goal (applying 20%) will return ‘pretty good’ results (80% of the goal). It is in the remaining 20% towards the goal that the majority of effort, focus, and discipline, are needed. A good example of this are in grades in school. For most classes, simply showing up everyday (20% effort) will result in a ‘pretty good’ grade. On a standard grading scale, 80% is in the C+ to B- range, depending on the instructor, which is indeed ‘pretty good’. This is where that remaining 80% work needed comes into play. In order to break through that last 20% needed to achieve 100% of the goal (an A/A+ in this case) a significantly increased amount of studying, effort and focus are needed.
This is why there are so many people who are doing ‘pretty good’ in life and there are less people doing ‘great’. Starting a project or towards a goal is relatively easy. It is the discipline and “sticking to it” that are the hardest aspects. It takes a significant amount of discipline, attention to detail, and effort to go from a C+/B- to an A+. Just look at all the diets out there that people have tried with ‘pretty good’ results. They all seem to work to a point, but most of them don’t end up producing a body that looks like Brad Pitt or Heidi Klum (fortunate genetics aside). Any diet will work up to a ‘pretty good’ level because they all obey the 80/20-20/80 Rule – simply start the diet and pay attention to what you are doing and you will achieve ‘pretty good’ results. Also, any coach/consultant you hire will work up to a ‘pretty good’ level because, again, they obey the 80/20-20/80 Rule. For that matter, simply paying attention and measuring your own progress, establishing your goal, and starting on that path towards your goal will result in achieving ‘pretty good’ results. Many people are doing just this; creating a plan for themselves and following it pretty closely. If a C+/B- outcome or ‘pretty good’ results are all that you desire, then you are all set.
However, if you desire the remaining 20% and want an A+ or ‘great’ results, be prepared to go an extra 80% and exert the high level of discipline, laser-like focus, and effort required. If you really want that ‘great’ level of success, be prepared to work hard, face difficult challenges, question your ‘pretty good’ ideas, as well as feel uncomfortable and possibly a good deal of physical and/or mental pain from time to time. The initial 80% towards a goal is not very painful and not that difficult. It is the remaining 20% that is painful, difficult, and will challenge the way you think and feel. Change is painful. No matter what type of change, whether it is psychological, physical, or societal. Many great changes in history have been revolutionary and very painful for the people or societies involved. This is what separates the ‘pretty good’ from the ‘great’ - the ability to endure the challenge of exerting that 80% and overcome fear, pain, and the desire to quit.
So think about the 80/20-20/80 Rule the next time you are setting a goal for yourself. Do your best to stay aware of the effort, focus, and discipline that will be required to go from starting out to ‘pretty good’, in relation to that needed to go from ‘pretty good’ to ‘great”. As you get closer and closer to your goal, you should experience that more and more effort, focus, and discipline are required. This is the point where most people will quit. Do your best to remember the 80/20-20/80 Rule.
In fact, write down “80/20-20/80” on a 3x5 card and tape it to your bathroom mirror, computer monitor, or bulletin board. This will serve as a reminder (hopefully throughout everyday) to stick to your goal and ACTIVELY WELCOME the increased effort, focus, and discipline that are required as you get closer to your goal!
-DrTri

Don't Blame the Messenger

2008-01-25T05:37:00.000-08:00

In my practice and in coaching patients/athletes, whether high school rowers or triathletes, I hear complaints of knee pain, on average, about twice per week. And with the high amount of activity that both of these groups have that is no surprise. What is a surprise is how quickly and commonly these individuals are told to blame their knee pain on a structure that is usually not to blame - the infamous "IT Band". Some do not even really know what their "IT Band" is or does. But somewhere along the way some clinician told them they had the dreaded "IT Band" issues. Usually, they are told, that the culprit is more specifically a tight "IT Band". So this sends most people off to schedule a rolfing session, deep tissue massage appointment, or some other tortuous painful modality. And they very quickly start some pretty crazy looking stretches and rolling around on foam rolls. All of these activities in the name of trying to loosen up this structure that they are not even really sure of how it got so "tight" in the first place...
After the hundreds of painful knee issues that have walked into my clinic over the last 10+ years, I am solidly convinced that the overwhelming majority of them are "killing (in this case actually only 'blaming') the messenger". The messenger being the "IT Band". This structure, more formally known as the Iliotibial tract, is a usually rather innocuous piece of dense connective and ligamentous tissue. It is designed to be a taut connector between the Glutes and Tensor Fasciae Latae (TFL) muscles (located on the anterior-lateral hip) and Gurdy's tubercle (on the anterior-lateral portion of the proximal tibia). It is designed as a leg and knee stabilizer during locomotion. Let me re-iterate something from these last two sentences, the "IT Band" is supposed to be tight and stable. It also has no contractile properties and only serves as a connector between two functional units - the hip/pelvis and the knee. It can be thought of as a sort of messenger of stability and connnection between two others. Hence the "messenger" analogy. The "IT Band" does nothing more than convey biomechanical functionality from the hip/pelvis to the knee. It does not cause anything, let alone knee pain.
The usual cause of knee pain in these individuals that I see are issues in the hip/pelvis that is simply transmitted to the knee through the innocent "IT Band".
If the "IT Band" is functioning in a healthy manner then any issues in the hip/pelvis will be transmitted through the tight and stable nature of the "IT Band" to the knee similar to the tight string between two cups on a kid's homemade telephone.
Further, all the stretching, deep tissue treatment, and rolling around on a foam roller to loosen the "IT Band" is only making matters worse. If the patient/athlete is successful they will indeed loosen the "IT Band" and lessen the symptoms at the knee. But, that only lessens the symptoms. It does not address the source of the issue and/or pain. And invariably once the "IT Band" returns (hopefully) to it's normal healthy operating status, the knee pain will return. This forms a vicious cycle of addressing the symptoms temporarily until they return (which they most likely will) and addressing the symptoms again until they return, etc. etc. etc.
Have you ever wondered why so many people have chronic nagging knee pain from an alleged "IT Band" tightness or issue??? There are many treatments, practitioners, and patients/athletes chasing symptoms around and around without ever addressing the source of the issue.
To review, the "IT Band" is designed to be taut and stable so that force is transmitted from the hip/pelvis down through the leg, knee, and lower leg. If you arbitrarily loosen a tissue that is designed to be tight then you are creating a scenario for more and chronic issues.
The best treatment is to look at the biomechanics of the hip/pelvis and occasionally into the low back and address these issues.
Most of the time, lack of endurance capacity, hip/pelvis flexor (TFL included) hypertonicity, and lack of stability and/or motion into extension of the hip/pelvis are the culprits of "tight IT Band" and associated knee pain.
So please, do not blame, shoot, or kill the messenger (in this case the "IT Band") when addressing an issue. Spend the time to determine the true source of the pain and or issue.
(**For you Shakespeare nerds - this will make Rosenkranz and Guildenstern very happy**)
-DrTri