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We all have our favorite lifts. For some people it’s the squat. For other people it’s the bench press. For me it’s the row. I like the feel of working my inner back muscles, like the rhomboids, paraspinals and low traps. The biceps, rear deltoids and abdominals are also involved.

Let’s conduct an experiment. While you’re sitting and reading this blog, lift your chin up and stick your chest out. Now bend your arms to 90 degrees and bring your elbows back and together behind you. Be sure to keep your shoulders down so you’re not shrugging. Now squeeze. You can feel your chest stretch and your back muscles contract. Hold this for just a few seconds then relax. When you do, you’ll notice that your posture is better. You’re sitting up taller. You can breathe fuller.

Rows are functional and effective and engage many postural muscles. Compared to some pull-down/pull-up exercises, my shoulders feel secure and I have more control. Below are three of my favorite row exercises. To see more video demos for the back Click Here.

Take a dumbbell in one hand and bend forward from the waist until upper body is almost parallel to floor. Place one knee on bench and other foot on floor off to the side. Place your free hand on bench for support. Keeping your body steady and back flat, lift weight up to your side trying to keep the elbow in. Lower weight to start position. Be sure to exhale during the pulling phase and inhale during the lowering phase.

Put close-grip triangle bar around barbell. With your knees slightly bent and feet on either side of the barbell, bend over at the waist so that your upper body is slightly above being parallel to the floor. 
Pull triangle bar straight up into your stomach. 
 Your back should be straight at all times and your body weight should be flat on feet. 
Lower the barbell back to the starting position (arms fully extended). Be sure to exhale as you pull the bar toward your body and exhale as you lower it.

Sit down at a back row machine with both feet flat on floor or against crossbar. Lean forward against pad. Make sure seat height and chest pad are properly adjusted. Grab the handle with both hands. Draw it into your chest while keeping your back straight. 
You should feel this in your shoulder blades. Return to the starting position (arms extended). Be sure to exhale during the pulling phase and inhale during the return phase.

When I first moved to Middleton, a friend told me that the best way to handle a Wisconsin winter is to embrace it. Not to stay cooped up inside but to find an outdoor activity. Looking back, I remember epic snowball battles with my family in Big Bear and Pine Mountain when I was a child. I can also recall zooming down snow-covered hills on my saucer. As an adult I snowboarded only a few times.

My first Wisconsin snow was on December 25, 2004. It was like the sky opened up, and white snowflakes quickly blanketed the ground. I had “inherited” a snowthrower from our home’s previous owner, and it came in handy to clear our 3700 sq ft. driveway. It seemed convenient at first, but every year the machine required major maintenance as mice successfully built nests inside the engine or chewed through fuel lines. Eventually, we gave up and decided to invest in shovels and a snow scoop. Of course, a snow scoop is manually operated and depending on the amount and type of snowfall, it requires patience, strength and endurance. The best thing is that it’s easy on my back. The snowthrower, on the other hand, had a “herky-jerky” feel and would pull me around even at slow speeds. Also Heather never felt comfortable with it and couldn’t stand the gas smell.

Hope this doesn’t sound crazy, but I’ve come to enjoy clearing the driveway of snow. . . as long as it’s not at 5:00am. Ugh! It gets me outdoors and it’s a great workout. Trust me, using the snow scoop is like doing a thousand pushups and lunges. Also after almost thirty years of lifting weights, it’s a nice change of pace. Eric, why not just hire a snow removal service? Since my fitness studio is located in my home I have to make sure my driveway and front walk is clear at all hours of the day. And with appointments from 6:00am to 9:00pm it’s unlikely a snowplower could accommodate my schedule.

The boys (Kyle and Bruce) help shovel/scoop the driveway too. Roy is a little young (10 months old), but he’ll be helping soon enough. I believe it’s important that they contribute, see what it’s like and exercise too. Also they know that if they help me clear the driveway faster, that means we can get to building a snow fort or sledding down our hill that much sooner.

Heather demonstrates her snow scooping technique.

Phew. Half of the driveway is done.

A workout video, subscription to a fitness magazine, exercise bands, cooking class, and personal training sessions. These all make great stocking stuffers this holiday season. The difference between these gift ideas and the latest techie gadgets is that you’re giving the gift of health. You’re helping your father lower his cholesterol. You’re helping your daughter like what she sees in the mirror. You’re helping your grandmother improve her mobility and be pain-free. You’re helping your brother improve his tennis game. By giving the gift of health, you’re contributing to a life-long journey of growing, learning, improving, having fun and being challenged. It’s all about the experience.

Personal training has allowed me to be an impact player in the lives of hundreds of people. To be a guide, coach, teacher and mentor. I particularly enjoy training one-on-one. My clients are often more comfortable and more focused. And since I have a private studio there are fewer distractions. I take a holistic approach to health and fitness and train my clients more by feel than by following a pre-fabricated workout routine. Pilates, boxing, weight lifting, dynamic stretching, rehab (from injury or post-surgery) and suspension training are just a few exercise strategies that I employ.

Most of all, I try to make training a fun experience. In my opinion, having fun is the #1 ingredient to a successful and long-lasting fitness plan. When you’re having fun, you’re relaxed. When you’re relaxed, your muscles are loose and less likely to be strained during a workout. When you’re having fun, you can breathe fuller and easier. When you’re having fun, you can concentrate for longer periods of time. When you’re having fun, you want to keep having fun :) If something is not fun, how long will you keep doing it? And why keep doing it? For fast results? How long will that last? Health and fitness is not about deprivation, restraint, restriction or will-power. It’s a journey. A lifelong pursuit. Here’s to your health.

It’s the time of year when we close the windows and turn on the heat. It’s also the time of year when people get more colds and flus because they stay indoors so much. Fresh clean air is so important, and a high quality furnace filter can only do so much. That’s where house plants come in. They naturally clean the air and pump out oxygen. Remember the process of photosynthesis from high school biology? Plants use carbon dioxide (what we exhale), sun, water and soil to live. All plants filter and purify the air from one extent to another, but tropical and sub-tropical plants do the best jobs of ridding the air of pollutants like benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, toluene and ammonia. English Ivy, for example, absorbs formaldehyde — the most prevalent indoor pollutant, which shows up in wood floorboard resins and synthetic carpet dyes. Likewise, Lady Palm targets ammonia (nasty on the respiratory system), which is a major ingredient in cleaners, textiles and dyes. — This Old House Magazine.

Just go to any nursery or plant store and you should be able to find houseplants like ferns, ficas and Philodendrons. Houseplants are relatively easy to care for. You don’t have to take them for walks, give them baths or read to them . . . although they enjoy the CO2 you breathe out. Remember that plants respire at night, so don’t have plants in your bedroom or they will compete with you for oxygen when you sleep. Plants also vary in the amount of sunlight they need, so sticking one in a dark corner won’t work too well. Watering your houseplants doesn’t need to be a chore either. Just make it part of your routine as you do your dusting, vacuuming and cleaning. Still too lazy? Then try a watering globe or watering bulb. We usually use them when we go away for a few days. Earlier this week we came back from having Thanksgiving with my family in California, and when we entered our house the air was clean and fresh. Thank you very much, plants!

A couple outdoor plants (on the floor) join the group over winter.

Another happy plant. Next to a row of windows and safe behind a chair.

Did you know that there are eleven muscles that surround the shoulder? There are also four muscle tendons (Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor and Subscapularis) that allow range of motion in your shoulder and stabilize the upper arm bone to the shoulder socket. Unfortunately, injuries can occur (cumulative or acute) when one or more of these muscle tendons are overstretched or overloaded. A cumulative injury is due to a repeated motion. Think of a pitcher who throws a baseball a thousand times over his career, a power lifter who presses enormous loads over head during every workout, a tennis player who practices serves for hours every day. An acute injury happens suddenly such as an accident. I remember a patient at a physical therapy clinic where I worked who damaged his rotator cuff as he was stepping up into his truck. He missed a step and reflexively grabbed the bar by the driver’s side door. He hung to the bar as his body fell backward and completely tore two of his rotator cuff muscles. In his case, surgery was necessary followed by intense rehabilitation. In others cases, where a tear is minor or less severe, rest, stretching, massage and proper rotator cuff exercises can speed up recovery. Even if you don’t have a shoulder issue, you can incorporate the three exercises below as preventative measures.

With your palm facing your body, keep left arm at your side with elbow bent to 90 degrees. Externally rotate the handle as far as it goes being sure to keep elbow against your side. Return to start position slowly. Exercise can also be performed with a stretch cord or dumbbell.

Grab handle with one hand and keep arm along the upper side of your body with elbow bent to 90 degrees. Internally rotate arm (like the forehand swing in tennis.) then let arm return to starting position. Exercise can also be performed with a stretch cord or dumbbell.

Hold your arm out to the side in the shape of an “L”, so that your upper arm is straight out to the side, and your lower arm (forearm) is pointed straight at the floor. Now rotate your arm so that your forearm is pointed straight at the ceiling and your upper arm is still straight out to the side. Let your hand return to start position through the same arc. Exercise can also be performed with a stretch cord or dumbbell.

Halloween is right around the corner, so it seems more than appropriate that I share this book with you. The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York is an intriguing book that weaves poison, murder, chemistry and detection into an on-the-edge-of-your-seat read. How did I come upon this book? A friend remembered that I have a degree in biology, read Science News Magazine and that my favorite college course was Human Parasitology. It’s a bit macabre I know. Plus she said the author, Deborah Blum, studied science writing here at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and received her master’s in environmental journalism. Each chapter unveils a different poison, including methyl alcohol, arsenic, chloroform, carbon monoxide and many more. In pursuit of justice and science are Chief Medical Examiner Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettler. They not only document the telltale signs of poisoning in the early half of the 20th century, but they become pioneers of forensic chemistry. What fascinated me the most was their ability to invent tests to identify specific poisons. Remember this was long before DNA samples. These tests were time-intensive and required a lot of tissue samples. So if you like Sherlock Holmes stories or the TV show Bones, then you’ll love this book. It’s a great read!

If an hour of lifting weights at the gym is good, then isn’t two hours better? If 5 miles of outdoor running is good, then why not run 8 miles? Or how about just running a faster time? “Better”, of course, is a matter of perspective and depends on how you approach your goal. It’s easy to get caught up in the “more is better” thinking. Many ads, fitness products, and even some trainers lure you into thinking that exercising 2X as hard in the gym will help you achieve your health and fitness goals in 1/2 the time. Mathematically, that sounds all well and good, but the human body is a dynamic system and doesn’t necessarily work that way. Long duration training and high intensity workouts may increase the likelihood of injury. Stress fractures, for example, are common for long distance runners, while many weight lifters, who train heavy, may experience muscle strains/tears in their biceps, back and shoulders. In addition, there’s the loss of momentum and possible derailment from their goal. We also have to include the time, effort and emotional investment involved in recovery from an injury.

In the long run, it’s about training smarter — and not harder — that will not only get you to your goals, but help you to maintain and improve. How can you train smarter? Start by keeping a food and exercise journal. This will allow you to Target, Track and Trim.

Target: What are you aiming for? Identify your short and long-term health and fitness goals.
Track: Monitor your progress. Write down what you eat and drink and what exercises you are doing. This will help you identify what is or is not working for you.
Trim: Be more efficient and effective by trimming away the excess or unnecessary in your diet and workouts. Hindsight gives you insight.

Imagine your favorite basketball player practicing free throws, tennis player serving, or baseball player pitching. These activities are about developing and reinforcing positive habits and technique . . . not brute force. With each practice, muscle memory is developed. New neural connections are actually being created in the brain. That’s why seasoned coaches and trainers like to end practice on a high note, so the athletes develop a positive feel.

A power lifter is a good example of an athlete who pushes their body. You might think he/she just goes into the gym and picks up the heaviest weights they can, but an experienced power lifter follows a specific training plan. Not only do they perform specific lifts during a workout, but they “build in” light days and recovery days. Talk to any power lifter and they’ll always emphasize recovery, rest and proper nutrition. I’ve worked out with power lifters before. One was a world record holder in his age and weight division. When he was tired or sore from a previous day’s workout, he would train lighter or even take a day off. Smarter training yields longevity in his sport, and the same is true with your health and fitness goals. You’ll learn, have fun, get in shape and be injury-free.