Ask and you SHALL recieve.

Thank you all who responded to the previous post with your favorites and workouts you want to destroy. That's very helpful for many reasons. I'm excited to program them. With those workouts in mind, I suggest using them as a training stimulus for the other workouts. So imagine that it's your Olympic event and the workouts lead you into your event more capable with a higher work capacity.



I shy away from saying things are "bad". I try to use "less-good", even when I talk about crappy shoes. "bad" is this nebulous, universal term that seems absolute and I don't really like that. BUT, when it comes to chronic general systemic Inflammation, I might just use that absolute term. [It] IS BAD. There seems to be no part of it that you would want, yet most of us are plagued by it.

Arthritis Sufferers' Increased Risk of Heart Disease Due to Disease-Related Inflammation and Other Factors, Study Finds

Imagine tying almost every ailment into inflammation. This is where much of the current research is pointing. Yet we do nothing about it; almost as if we're all victims of this random tragic demise.

Human beings are the only organism that isn't sure about what and how to eat. Even the simplest (dumbest) organisms have it figured out. Meanwhile, we build bridges across waterways, erect giant building, defy gravity with flight, manipulate the macro and micro-verse. Someday we will even move stellar objects, I promise. Yet the whole eating things creates so much turmoil and controversy.. I find it highly amusing, personally, but it is indeed tragic.

"Apart from lung cancer, there is no other disease that can not be almost completely eliminated with simple lifestyle changes."

- Walter Willett. Star professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

So if you're plagued by something, you're going to have to get proactive about it..



Mobility is no different. -

If you have mobility issues going on, you have to get proactive about those as well. Your hips aren't just going to magically open up and your ankles aren't going to loosen with pleas. One common mistake is strengthening the opposing side of a tightness. So if your hamstrings are tight, people will try to strengthen hip flexion (iliacus-psoas). This won't help and will probably just exacerbate the issues further.

Homework:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcIaR2IFmAE&feature=related

Another option would be to stand a few inches in front of a wall, put your rear-end against the wall and hinge at the hips.

Do 5 sets of leg-lever (20-30) and retest your hip flexion after each set. Work on that "bracing" he's talking about. Meaning your keep your rib-cage locked-in with your hips. Tighten your midsection as if you're about to get punched. If you've never been punched in the gut before, perhaps that will help instill that feeling I'm talking about.


FYI-

I've been seeing a guy for "manual release" and it's been helping me quite a bit. http://www.activerelease.com/. It is very ad-hoc and deals with single issues.

The guy is pretty close to here and if you're interested, his site is www.drnelsonsantos.com. It is NOT pleasant though. In fact, it is excruciating. I'll leave it at that.

If a more whole-body release is your fancy, then perhaps Rolfing is what you'll "like".
http://www.rolf.org/

I've had Craig Dunham www.craigdunham.com dig very deep into my tissues and it is quite a religious experience. He opened my chest up and I was able to breathe super deep for a while.

When you grow up skinny as a swizzle-stick yet thinking you're Dolph Lungren, you end up with problems, to say the least.