Listen to your body while you workout, not your mind.
The mind tells us to quit when something is uncomfortable. It can take you out of the moment and put you in a pleasant state. Like thinking about whats for dinner. On the flip side it can tell you something is too easy and you need to go harder or add more weight (both of which are rarely the answer to your problems by the way). The mind has so many preconceived notions about movement & exercise. "My mother hurt her back exercising, maybe I will too". "This famous instagram model looks sexy, I should do what she does to look like her." The mind and emotions are not reliable feedback tools during exercise.
Instead, listen to your body. Feel whats happening both locally and globally. Feel what's contracting, what's stretching, what's stabilizing. Get in tune with what your WHOLE body is telling you! (I don't mean that endorphin release you get after a HIIT class or that relaxed feeling after a calming yoga class--not that either of these things are bad). I mean for you to feel the muscle cramps, the blood pumping into the muscles, the diaphragm pulling air into the lungs, the joints being compressed and decompressed, the tension in the non moving parts, the fluidity in the moving parts etc.
Once you start FEELING things in your body, you can start to DECIPHER to what they mean, and only then can you LISTEN to what your body is saying. A restriction in movement somewhere? Why? Lack of mobility can occur for many different reasons. Maybe I'm tight here or weak there? A burning sensation in the quads? Why? Maybe there is lack of oxygen to this muscle or maybe I have a pinched nerve, or maybe I'm just over dressed! Grinding in the knees while squatting? Why? Well I'm sure you have a guess but does it necessarily mean its bad and does it necessarily mean you should stop bending your knees all together?! I bet your mind has an opinion on it, but how does your body feel about it?! I bet it would still like to sit down every once in while, and walk up stairs when necessary.
Here is the problem: WE ARE SO DISCONNECTED FROM OUR BODIES THAT WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE FEELING, WHERE WE ARE FEELING IT, AND WHAT IT MEANS! The good news is that there are some great movement coaches that are available to teach you how to feel, and what the feelings mean. Find a good movement coach. This is what I am.
Stephen Cornely
Triad Wellness Philly
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Why Strength Matters Most!
Every movement that humans perform is based off the ability to produce a force using their musculoskeletal system. The ability to produce a force against a resistance is strength. We are constantly producing force on a daily basis, whether to push open a door, pull on our dog's leash, bending over to lift a box from the floor, walking around the house, or even sitting up straight! All of these seemingly simple activities are able to be performed because of our ability to be strong. For this reason, strength training should be a top priority in all training programs.
Below are some examples of how strength plays a role in various forms of fitness and daily life activities:
1. running: running can be described as the ability to fight gravity and inertia to move in a forward direction. In order to do this our foot repeatedly strikes the ground propelling us forward. As the foot strikes the ground, it is producing some level of force into it while the ground is producing same level of force back allowing us to move forward. The amount of force produced is one of the determining factors in how far we will go with each step. If we are able to produce a larger force with each step, then we will be able to go further with each step, and theoretically further over the course of our run. There are many other joints (vertebral joints especially) in the body that need to remain "strong & stable" during running to allow for force to be produced into the ground but that is diving too deep into biomechanics for this blog!
2. mobility: some people think that mobility and strength are opposites. The ability to move our joints in a full and controlled range of motion is mobility. This requires strength! Strength is a factor in determining someones full mobility. For example, in order to do perform shoulder flexion (think lifting your arm up overhead as high as you can and even pulling the arm back past your ears) you not only need to have flexible lats but you need strong deltoids and strong scapular depressors (primarily speaking, lower trapezius) in order to successfully do this.
3. sitting properly: by this point I'm sure everyone knows how bad sitting for extreme lengths of time is (remember, sitting is not inherently bad but rather the fact that we do it for 75% of day is why it creates problems). Now before I get into how sitting with proper posture requires strength, I need to give a disclaimer that sitting with proper posture for 8 hours a day is NO BETTER for you than sitting with improper posture for 8 hours a day! Get up and move people! That's what our bodies were made to do! So back to my point.... when we sit, gravity pulls our chest down and our head forward creating a flexed spine and some sort of jacked up neck position (this varies depending on where we are looking). In order to sit up straight we need to activate our erectors (muscles that help the spine stay upright & straight), and even more importantly our diaphragm to ensure proper breathing technique (side note: you're diaphragm is probably inhibited due to you sitting for prolonged periods, which then causes the neck and chest muscles to facilitate breathing, which then cause neck and shoulder pain). So here is an example of how even something that is not movement based requires you to be strong!
It is for these reasons that people need to prioritize strength training. This means lifting heavy objects or moving your body weight in a slow and controlled manner for anywhere from 3-10 sets of 2-6 reps. It doesn't mean going to do circuit training or HIIT training. Will these things make a person stronger? Yes to a degree, especially if you're just starting on your fitness journey however, they tend to tax the cardiovascular system and the muscular endurance system more than the strength system which means you are training inefficiently and will hit a wall sooner rather than later.
It is very sad that some people will never be able to do a perfect form pushup, pull up, or deep squat. Our standard of strength in our culture is supremely low these days and it is causing a TON of exercise and non-exercise related injuries. So I am begging you, for your health, to GET STRONGER!
Every movement that humans perform is based off the ability to produce a force using their musculoskeletal system. The ability to produce a force against a resistance is strength. We are constantly producing force on a daily basis, whether to push open a door, pull on our dog's leash, bending over to lift a box from the floor, walking around the house, or even sitting up straight! All of these seemingly simple activities are able to be performed because of our ability to be strong. For this reason, strength training should be a top priority in all training programs.
Below are some examples of how strength plays a role in various forms of fitness and daily life activities:
1. running: running can be described as the ability to fight gravity and inertia to move in a forward direction. In order to do this our foot repeatedly strikes the ground propelling us forward. As the foot strikes the ground, it is producing some level of force into it while the ground is producing same level of force back allowing us to move forward. The amount of force produced is one of the determining factors in how far we will go with each step. If we are able to produce a larger force with each step, then we will be able to go further with each step, and theoretically further over the course of our run. There are many other joints (vertebral joints especially) in the body that need to remain "strong & stable" during running to allow for force to be produced into the ground but that is diving too deep into biomechanics for this blog!
2. mobility: some people think that mobility and strength are opposites. The ability to move our joints in a full and controlled range of motion is mobility. This requires strength! Strength is a factor in determining someones full mobility. For example, in order to do perform shoulder flexion (think lifting your arm up overhead as high as you can and even pulling the arm back past your ears) you not only need to have flexible lats but you need strong deltoids and strong scapular depressors (primarily speaking, lower trapezius) in order to successfully do this.
3. sitting properly: by this point I'm sure everyone knows how bad sitting for extreme lengths of time is (remember, sitting is not inherently bad but rather the fact that we do it for 75% of day is why it creates problems). Now before I get into how sitting with proper posture requires strength, I need to give a disclaimer that sitting with proper posture for 8 hours a day is NO BETTER for you than sitting with improper posture for 8 hours a day! Get up and move people! That's what our bodies were made to do! So back to my point.... when we sit, gravity pulls our chest down and our head forward creating a flexed spine and some sort of jacked up neck position (this varies depending on where we are looking). In order to sit up straight we need to activate our erectors (muscles that help the spine stay upright & straight), and even more importantly our diaphragm to ensure proper breathing technique (side note: you're diaphragm is probably inhibited due to you sitting for prolonged periods, which then causes the neck and chest muscles to facilitate breathing, which then cause neck and shoulder pain). So here is an example of how even something that is not movement based requires you to be strong!
It is for these reasons that people need to prioritize strength training. This means lifting heavy objects or moving your body weight in a slow and controlled manner for anywhere from 3-10 sets of 2-6 reps. It doesn't mean going to do circuit training or HIIT training. Will these things make a person stronger? Yes to a degree, especially if you're just starting on your fitness journey however, they tend to tax the cardiovascular system and the muscular endurance system more than the strength system which means you are training inefficiently and will hit a wall sooner rather than later.
It is very sad that some people will never be able to do a perfect form pushup, pull up, or deep squat. Our standard of strength in our culture is supremely low these days and it is causing a TON of exercise and non-exercise related injuries. So I am begging you, for your health, to GET STRONGER!
“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical
training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty
and strength of which his body is capable.”―
Socrates
Written by Stephen J Cornely
@triadwellnessphilly
www.triadwellnessphilly.com
Thursday, December 7, 2017
The Perfect Exercise......does NOT exisist
I have recently been asked by a few people, "if I only have time for one or two exercises which one should I do?" This is usually followed up by, "I bet its burpees right?!"
WRONG!
EXERCISES ARE TOOLS!
For example, if I want to put a nail in the wall I need a hammer A hammer is most certainly the best tool to use to accomplish this task.
However, if I need to tighten a bolt into a socket, a hammer is useless. It is even more useless than no tool at all! A wrench or screw driver would be the ideal tool to accomplish the task. On top of this, even if I have a wrench, if I over tighten the bolt I will start to strip the teeth. So there is a maximal effective dose to use my wrench until it becomes detrimental to my task.
Exercises are tool to improve the body. The wrong one is just as useless as the right one that is overused. How big is your toolbox?
Stephen Cornely
WRONG!
EXERCISES ARE TOOLS!
For example, if I want to put a nail in the wall I need a hammer A hammer is most certainly the best tool to use to accomplish this task.
However, if I need to tighten a bolt into a socket, a hammer is useless. It is even more useless than no tool at all! A wrench or screw driver would be the ideal tool to accomplish the task. On top of this, even if I have a wrench, if I over tighten the bolt I will start to strip the teeth. So there is a maximal effective dose to use my wrench until it becomes detrimental to my task.
Exercises are tool to improve the body. The wrong one is just as useless as the right one that is overused. How big is your toolbox?
Stephen Cornely
Monday, July 17, 2017
Who am I & what is this blog?
I am Stephen J Cornely, kinesiologist,
movement specialist, massage therapist, fitness enthusiast,
nutritionist, and overall health aficionado. My aim is teach people how
to make a positive difference in their life through the use of
movement, bodywork, and whole foods. I have a passion for making people
feel better both physically and mentally, move better, and consequently
look better. I provide the most comprehensive service to anyone
seeking help and looking to make a positive change in their life.
First and foremost I consider myself a teacher. Most adults were never taught what it means to be healthy, let alone live a healthy life style! In today's education system it is rare that children have a structured physical fitness class to teach them about exercise and their body's anatomy & physiology. It is even rarer for kids to have a nutrition class designed to teach them how their body processes food, what healthy food is, and where to get it. Speaking from personal experience I was not offered any such class until college. It is my belief that people's lack of education about their own body is driving many of the health issues that plague America today (obesity, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, gastric intestinal problems, chronic pain, insomnia, etc.).
Secondly, I consider myself a life long student. I believe in the power of knowledge over all else and I believe that it is ignorant to think one ever truely understands everything this world has to offer. My free time is spent reading(journals, articles, blogs, books, etc.), listening to podcasts, watching videos and professional talks online, and practicing as many new things as I can in the realm of health & fitness. I use my body as an experiment to try all the different health & fitness tools that seem to pop up daily. I am not closed minded when it comes to fitness modalities, bodywork techniques, or dietary guidelines as they are all valuable tools to fill a tool box with in order to use in the appropriate setting with the appropriate client. Therefore I am not a specialist in any specific field of fitness, massage, or nutrition but rather a generalist who will provide you the knowledge of what may work for you based off of my practical experience and expertise in the fields.
The goal of this blog is to try express my beliefs about the world of health and fitness to the masses (or really whoever follows my blog and other social media posts of mine). I will do this by presenting different topics on a monthly basis about whatever happens to be on my mind at the time. Hopefully I can educate my readers on what lifelong health & fitness is really about and help them enact it into their daily lives. There are a lot of "experts" in this field that provide inadequate answers to people's struggles with their health or try to sell them some fad. It is my promise to never try to get a client/reader/follower to buy a product that wouldn't benefit them personally in some way. It is my goal to provide legitimate and scientifically backed answers to the many health & fitness questions that most of the population struggles with daily.
Stay active, stay healthy!
Steve Cornely
First and foremost I consider myself a teacher. Most adults were never taught what it means to be healthy, let alone live a healthy life style! In today's education system it is rare that children have a structured physical fitness class to teach them about exercise and their body's anatomy & physiology. It is even rarer for kids to have a nutrition class designed to teach them how their body processes food, what healthy food is, and where to get it. Speaking from personal experience I was not offered any such class until college. It is my belief that people's lack of education about their own body is driving many of the health issues that plague America today (obesity, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, gastric intestinal problems, chronic pain, insomnia, etc.).
Secondly, I consider myself a life long student. I believe in the power of knowledge over all else and I believe that it is ignorant to think one ever truely understands everything this world has to offer. My free time is spent reading(journals, articles, blogs, books, etc.), listening to podcasts, watching videos and professional talks online, and practicing as many new things as I can in the realm of health & fitness. I use my body as an experiment to try all the different health & fitness tools that seem to pop up daily. I am not closed minded when it comes to fitness modalities, bodywork techniques, or dietary guidelines as they are all valuable tools to fill a tool box with in order to use in the appropriate setting with the appropriate client. Therefore I am not a specialist in any specific field of fitness, massage, or nutrition but rather a generalist who will provide you the knowledge of what may work for you based off of my practical experience and expertise in the fields.
The goal of this blog is to try express my beliefs about the world of health and fitness to the masses (or really whoever follows my blog and other social media posts of mine). I will do this by presenting different topics on a monthly basis about whatever happens to be on my mind at the time. Hopefully I can educate my readers on what lifelong health & fitness is really about and help them enact it into their daily lives. There are a lot of "experts" in this field that provide inadequate answers to people's struggles with their health or try to sell them some fad. It is my promise to never try to get a client/reader/follower to buy a product that wouldn't benefit them personally in some way. It is my goal to provide legitimate and scientifically backed answers to the many health & fitness questions that most of the population struggles with daily.
Stay active, stay healthy!
Steve Cornely
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