Maintain a Strong Core for a Healthy Lifestyle and Prevention of Injury

These days everywhere you look there is a quick fix for getting those six pack abs you’ve always wanted or the sleek and trim body without exercise by simply taking the latest diet pills or nutritional supplements that burn calories while you sleep….Please! Let’s focus on the most neglected part of our body, that when trained properly will pay dividends for life! To do that, you first must understand the power of your CORE and what it means to have a strong or weak core. The core of the body is the area between the neck and the pelvic floor. The core is also referred to as the trunk or center of our body. Why is this part of the body so important and what do we need to remember when training the muscles of our core? It is important to remember that we are always dealing with the enemy on this planet. This enemy never lets up, never takes a day off and no matter what we do will always be around. The enemy is GRAVITY! Gravity is pulling us to the planet every second we are up and moving around. Even when we are lying flat on our back, gravity is pushing us to the planet. The only way we can cope is to be prepared to counteract these negative forces through a strong reactive neuro-muscular system. After all, posture is so important while standing, walking and sitting.

A person standing straight with great posture will look and feel ten years younger. Someone slumped over with their shoulders rounded, their head forward and their stomach muscles distended is hanging on their skeleton and ligaments rather than engaging the muscles of the core to change the shape of the body by setting the pelvis correctly, pulling the shoulders back and balancing the head in the right position over the spine. The excessive amount of energy expended by that person each day and the trauma to the joints in the neck; shoulder and spine are completely preventable with a little attention to function and balance of the muscles responsible for stabilization, posture and coordinated movement of the body.

Imagine if you could take your muscles off your skeleton for a moment, like removing a coat from your body. You would have no control of your movement or any say about the position or posture you are forced to occupy. If that makes sense, then how we train our muscles, how we hold our head, how we sit in a chair (and work at our computers) and how we walk will dramatically impact our level of fatigue during our waking hours and the micro-trauma to our neck, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. The first and only way to neutralize these negative forces is to train your body from the center out. Not the outside in like so many people think to do. The muscles of the core are designed to be the long-lasting stable connections for the upper extremities and the lower extremities. Stability before mobility is the key to proper performance. The shoulder muscles emanate from the chest and back, and the hip muscles take their origin deep in the pelvic floor attached to the inside of the spine. For proper function, the entire core including chest, upper and lower back, deep spine, pelvic floor and the four abdominal muscle groups must be working together. Please seek the advice of your medical Doctor, physical therapist or athletic trainer who specializes in function and performance to assist you in designing the best core training program for your age, gender, lifestyle and any injuries you might have now or in the past that need attention.

The best way to train the core for results is to include the following important criteria into your training regimen:

1. Train movement not muscle: Provide exercise that trains muscle groups together rather then isolated traditional exercises.
2. Train for speed rather then gross strength alone.
3. Include reactive, repetitive motion that promote balance and coordination front to back, side to side, up and down and in rotation.
4. Train muscle to react quickly with the ability to stabilize other body parts
5. Train for muscular endurance to reduce fatigue and premature breakdown of muscular coordination, which can lead to injury.
6. And finally, train the neurological system in conjunction with the muscular system to increase the body’s awareness and coordinated interactive movement.

A Better Walking Workout

Walking is considered one of the most effective means of exercising. Of course, when the experts refer to walking for exercise they are referring to “power walking,” or speed walking. This means walking briskly; in fact, brisk walking and jogging are almost equally effective. The advantage is that power walking is a low-to-moderate exercise regimen and requires less exertion. Some people have incorporated wide arm swings into their daily walking routine.

Sometimes people who are otherwise in great shape neglect their arms and other parts of their body while walking. What if there were a way to burn more calories and accelerate your heart rate slightly while walking, but one that didn’t require more strenuous efforts as with constant jogging? There is a device that can help to further tone your body while you walk and even increase balance, coordination and some of your mental faculties.

The Bodyblade is a popular device that can easily be carried while you walk. Using its system of “driving” the blade, you can burn additional calories and get your heart rate up faster. The Bodyblade weighs one and a half pounds, so it is less strenuous than carrying around two pound dumbbells while you walk. The design of the Bodyblade allows it to be a softer and thus safer object for you to carry by your side.

You could consider power walking with the Bodyblade a form of interval training. Some people will drive the blades while walking, while others will stop for anywhere from 30-60 seconds, drive the blade, and then return to a brisk walk. You can stop practically anywhere to continue your interval training and work on your core muscles by driving two pairs of Bodyblade.

The Bodyblade can be used in a variety of areas and by a large group of people. Young students in training have used Bodyblade, as have seniors and even military personnel. (The U.S. Naval Academy is one of the manufacturer’s satisfied clients) The great thing about the device is that it automatically adjusts to the level of each user. Not only does this prevent over-exertion, but it also allows users to accelerate their training and tone their body at their own pace.

Click on the following video to see how to use the Bodyblade while walking, or click here to view a larger and higher quality version on Youtube.

Bruce Hymanson, P.T.
President & Founder
www.Bodyblade.com

A Fun and Easy Full-Body Workout in Minutes?

If only you could find a full-body workout that was fun and easy! It seems as if every exercise regimen you find is excessively demanding on you, asking for commitments of 30-60 minutes a day when you have literally five minutes to spare. Even the people who can make time for more demanding exercise regimens often complain about the level of strain, as well as the complexity involved with weight sets or electronic machines.

If you could find a full-body workout that would let you exercise on your own terms, wouldn’t it be worth it? Even better, what if this system was fun, was easy to perform and let you be over and done with it in five to ten minutes? It would be even more exciting if this system were portable and you could take it anywhere you want—even the office!

This is the idea of the Bodyblade, a workout device that focuses on core stabilization, by having the user drive the blade causing the ends to move, and then providing resistance through inertia. Even though the Bodyblade can provide a full-body workout, it automatically adjusts to each user’s level of fitness, thus avoiding strain.

Using one Bodyblade can exercise all the major muscle groups of your body. By holding the Bodyblade in front of you, you can work out your abs, chest, shoulders, and improve your posture. By holding the Bodyblade over your head, you can exercise muscles in your neck, shoulders and back. By slightly altering the position of the Bodyblade, you can give attention to your thighs and deep back muscles. When holding the Bodyblade behind you, you can work on triceps and in tightening your stomach. By holding the Bodyblade out and curling up, you can exercise bicep and tricep muscles in your arm. Finally, by lunging forward with the Bodyblade, you can work on your buttocks and quads.

Using the Bodyblade is the equivalent of performing 270 contractions or even 270 lunges when it comes to exercising from the core and outward. Best of all, there are no weights to adjust and no noise to contend with. Using this device is simple and fun and takes just minutes from your busy schedule.

Click on the following video to see how to use the Bodyblade as a full-body workout, or click here to view a larger and higher quality version on Youtube.

Bruce Hymanson, P.T.
President & Founder
www.Bodyblade.com

A Great Way for Seniors to Improve Their Health

Studies have shown that seniors are now living longer and feeling better about themselves. This is good news because this is the direct result of people starting to improve their overall health. Seniors can improve their health, happiness and lifespan by engaging in regular exercise and by paying closer attention to their diet.

Another important point to consider is that older individuals—and this includes men and women anywhere from 60 to 80 years of age—must especially focus on balance, coordination and stability. These are neurological aspects of health and are just as important as focusing on physical strengthening. Did you know that more seniors end up in the hospital because of an increased risk of falling (and subsequent injury) than they do because of disease? This should emphasize the need for strengthening physical areas as well as balance.

One of the major advantages of the Bodyblade device is in the combination of physical and mental strengthening that it offers. The Bodyblade requires that the user drive or shake the blade, which flexes the ends and provides inertial exercise. In turn, this operation gives resistance to the senior’s body. The bigger the flex of the blade, the greater the resistance will be. Therefore, the resistance adjusts to the level of each user, ensuring that seniors will not over-exert themselves. At the same time, Bodyblade training involves rapid change in direction and rapid contraction in the muscles. This allows the user to improve his or her balance, coordination and quickness.

Over time, this exercise regimen (very short and thus not too taxing on even an elderly individual) will help seniors to get up out of their chairs, change directions and walk around with better control. By improving the physical and mental quickness in a person, it reduces their chances of falling later on. Additionally, the Bodyblade builds muscles, promotes endurance and increases blood flow, which promotes good health. This device can be especially helpful to seniors who don't want to invest a lot of time in a more rigorous exercise program, but who want to devote more time to their health.

Click on the following video to see how to use the Bodyblade, or click here to view a larger and higher quality version on YouTube.

Bruce Hymanson, P.T.
President & Founder
www.Bodyblade.com

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A Workout at the Office?

It's hard to imagine a businessperson working out at the office, since we usually think of the office as a stuffy place where people wear suits, talk professionally and focus on their weekly agenda. However, even in an environment where you are all dressed up, suit and all, you can still find the time to take a break and give your body a short workout.

Most workers have 30-minute lunch breaks, and possibly a pair of 15-minute breaks throughout the day. Why not take five minutes of that time to work on your abs? There is nothing wrong with shutting your office door and discreetly exercising on your own time. This is also a great way to calm that tension that accumulates throughout the day. Remember that exercise not only improves body function but also helps to productively relieve stress.

With a great exercise device called Bodyblade (almost 1 million sold worldwide), it is easy and does not require a lot of dressing and undressing into appropriate clothing. Bodyblade was made to give you a complete full-body workout without the necessity of going to the gym. You can simply take your coat off, loosen your tie and get into position behind your desk.

The Bodyblade is simple to use. When a user drives the Bodyblade and the ends begin to flex, inertia provides resistance to the body. This progressive method of resistance automatically adjusts to the level of each user. This provides an effective workout without the risk of straining. The Bodyblade also builds muscle, since the workout intensifies when the magnitude of the flexing tips increase. Experts say that over the course of one minute, the ends of the Bodyblade move back and forth 270 times, which could provide resistance of up to 34 pounds or more depending on the size of the user.

You can simply stand up and take a short break for your new exercise routine. Afterward, you can straighten your tie, put your jacket back on and resume work with no great effort. The Bodyblade provides a complete workout for the individual in just five minutes. Since you can easily incorporate this exercise regimen into your daily routine, you don't have to worry about planning for more extensive workouts. It's all right there—in your arms and inside your office. We can all burn a few extra calories during our breaks at work.

Click on the following video to see how to use the Bodyblade in the office, or click here to view a larger and higher quality version on YouTube.

Bruce Hymanson, P.T.
President & Founder
www.Bodyblade.com

Effective Baby Boomer Workouts

Baby boomers are men and women of the Post-World War II baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964. Now in 2008, some of these individuals are finding it more difficult to exercise because of aging. However, at this point in life, good health, exercise and proper dieting are more important than ever before. Good health will increase one’s lifespan and make the latter years of life the best years of life.

When you talk to baby boomers today, most of them will agree that the most important issue, physically speaking, is not related to building massive muscle. They are not looking to get ripped or to perfect their abs, necessarily. Instead, they are exercising to improve the core of their body. They want to work out in order to prevent or stall symptoms of arthritis. They want to enjoy time with their children—perhaps they want to play sports like they used to. They want to spend romantic time with their spouses, the way they always used to when they were younger. They want to look and feel good, and they want to do so on their own terms. The good news is that with proper exercise, baby boomers and even individuals in their 70s and 80s can enjoy a better quality of life.

The problem is that many baby boomers lack the time to devote to a more exhaustive physical regimen. You may be at the point where you’re thinking about retirement, but may not actually be ready to retire for another several years. If you work typical hours for your job, then making time to exercise can be challenging.

The advantage of the Bodyblade is that you can do it in less than 10 minutes a day, and you can exercise anywhere. Furthermore, it automatically trains your body and adjusts to your personal level of conditioning. The concept of the Bodyblade is based on inertia, not on gravity. You could say that it treats your body like an orchestra, in that it makes all 600-plus muscles work together as a team. The Bodyblade can help your joints and can balance your muscles as well as your movement all while giving you a toned and sculpted body.

It’s important that baby boomers start building up their core, working on the center of their body and then outward. This will help to protect vital areas like the spine, shoulder joints and hips as well as help improve posture.

Click on the following video to see how baby boomers are using the Bodyblade, or click here to view a larger and higher quality version on YouTube.

Bruce Hymanson, P.T.
President & Founder
www.Bodyblade.com

How to Get Improved Rotation for Use in Baseball

Baseball is an athletic sport for sure; one might say it’s even one of the more physically demanding sports that people enjoy. Obviously, the game of baseball requires that athletes stay fit for running and have strong arms that allow them to catch, pitch and bat when the game calls for it. However, one of the most important elements of training in baseball is in rotation. The ability of athletes to rotate their bodies will play an important part in determining their ability to throw, run, catch and swing a bat with speed and accuracy.

Players may have to quickly change directions when running or when throwing to a second baseman when an opposing player is trying to steal. Professional and amateur baseball players focus on training the core of their bodies when training for better baseball performance. This means not simply practicing with the throwing arm, or batting, but focusing on all levels of core body development.

Core body development involves the center of the body, which in turn enables an athlete to rotate quickly for throwing and can accelerate a ball anywhere from 60-90 miles per hour quickly and accurately without injury. Additionally, the player has to slow down that throw toward the end of the release. This requires developing back and shoulder muscles just as much as it involves deep core stabilization. The core controls and regulates a player’s movements and helps to facilitate any rapid change of direction. Only an athlete with a highly developed core and stabilized center could be capable of maintaining a high level of accuracy. This is why strengthening your core will be one of the most important disciplines to learn for improving and perfecting your game.

The Bodyblade has been designed with athletes in mind, specifically baseball players both amateur and professional. The device utilizes the power of inertia to provide resistance to the exerciser. The Bodyblade can even be held in a throwing position and as a bat and exercise some hard-to-reach muscles with every push and pull. Why take Bodyblade’s word for it when you can rely on the advice of pitcher Randy Johnson? He has been using the Bodyblade for over ten years.

Click on the following video to see how baseball players can use the Bodyblade to strengthen their core, or click here to view a larger and higher quality version on YouTube.
Bruce Hymanson, P.T.
President & Founder
www.Bodyblade.com