Stress

In our world, stress is the one thing that has overarching power. Pretty much every ailment, disease, or pain that I've ever heard of is either caused by or made worse by stress.

How do we deal with it? A friend of mine made a great observation: you can either decrease the stress or you can increase your ability to deal with it. There is no doubt that we can get a lot of things done while still maintaining an overall sense of calmness about us. The challenge is that we need to learn to do that.

It helps to get an idea of how and why stress happens. Why do our bodies get stressed? Well, it's actually an ancient response mechanism that is designed to save our lives. If we were about to get attacked by an animal, the stress response triggers us to go into a "fight or flight" mode, where we either fight off the attacker or we run. Our body only goes into this mode when it thinks that we might die.

When we experience stress in our world, it is no different. The body doesn't differenciate between a wild animal about to kill us and our boss trying to kill us. The response is the same. For some of us, our bodies are constantly releasing stress hormones into our system because our bodies are thinking that we are going to die.

And doesn't it feel that way sometimes? We get so wrapped up in our own worlds that sometimes it's as if you are trying to escape death. But what if you asked yourself some simple questions when you felt yourself get stressed? What questions would these be?

Think of how you could change your emotional state by asking something like: "am I literally going to die?" I know it feels like it, but really, you won't die if you don't make a deadline. I am not saying that your deadline isn't important. But if you take the "life or death" label off of it, the task will actually become easier and you will salvage your health.

Deep breathing is another technique that will help. It is impossible to take deep breaths and stress at the same time. Each of these activates a different body response. So practice some breathing, and add it to your day. At the top of every hour, take 3 slow and deliberate breaths. You'll be surprised at how this will creap into your day in subtle ways. Then you will be able to finish all your work AND be healthy.

In health,
Chris Janke
www.FSTworkout.com

Health: The Ultimate Goal

Most of us have places that we want to get to. We call these places "goals," "objectives," or "dreams." And if you're at all like me, you know that it's very easy to get so consumed with your future goal that you forget about right now. We lose the present moment. This is the case with so many goals, whether it be a material, financial, or intellectual goal.

But health is different. The pursuit of health is an end in itself. By reaching for it, you achieve it. And you don't have to wait for it, it's here now. The instant that you decide to be healthy, you have taken the step. The key is to make a real decision.

When you live a healthy life, you are living in the moment. And you are also living inside of a goal. You don't need to make it into a future thing that you are reaching for. It is now.

Try this: Sitting in your chair now, put your elbows on your knees. Now take a slow, deep breath into you lower back (yes, breathe into your back). This may be new to most people, but it's the quickest way to change your health. You will feel the expansion of your back as it relaxes. This triggers an immediate response from your body and its many systems. After a minute or two, you will feel really relaxed.

Health doesn't have to be projected into the future. You can be healthy right now. Stop making plans to "get healthy when..." or "lose weight..." and just be healthy. Now. You can't be healthy in the future without being healthy now first. Start where you are and take this small step toward health.

In health,
Chris Janke
www.FSTworkout.com

Breathe Right to Stand Right

What Does Breathing Have to do with Posture?

EVERYTHING! In fact, the diaphragm is one of the most important postural muscles that we have. So many of us take such shallow and rushed breathes that we never allow our diaphragm to fully open our torso. Without that expansion in the rib area, we can never achieve truly great posture.

A lot of complicated articles have been written about the details of respiration, but it's not very complicated at all. We all breathe, we just need to learn to breathe better. Getting more oxygen into our bodies is one of the easiest and most beneficial things that we can do for our posture and overall health.

The diaphragm runs from one side of your ribs to the other, along the upper abdomen. When it contracts, the pressure in your lungs changes and you inhale. When it relaxes you exhale. Like your bicep, tricep, or hamstring, your diaphragm is a muscle. It responds to training just like the others do. So, let's learn how to train it.

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Now find the bottom of your rib cage with your fingers. This is where your diaphragm is. As you inhale, feel how the ribs separate. As you exhale, feel the ribs come closer together. In this position, try to make each breath deeper and longer than the previous breath. This creates an internal stretching. Continue with this exercise for 5 to 10 minutes. You will start to feel very relaxed. Deep breathing triggers a relaxation response from your entire body, and is very helpful for your overall health.

If you ever start to feel light-headed, don't worry. Just stop the deep breathing for a few minutes and resume normal breathing. Your body just isn't used to the new demand that you're asking it to do. This is all part of the training process. Soon, you'll be able to breathe deeply without even thinking about it.

You stretch your outer muscles before and after you workout, and now you know how to stretch your diaphragm. I would recommend doing this exercise twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. You will be amazed at the positive changes. You will feel better and you will be helping your posture.

In Health,
Chris Janke
www.FSTworkout.com

How Treadmills Contribute to NBD

When I tell people that treadmills are not good, they either look at me like I'm crazy, or they'll tell me that I'm crazy. But there's a very simple explanation as to why treadmills don't work. They don't simulate real running, and therefore they cause NBD (I will talk about NBD later).

Running is a very simple activity, meaning that there is not many movements that need to happen in order for you to run. The job of running begins in the hips. Each hip goes into flexion and then into extension. Running is just flexion-extension-flexion-extension over and over again for miles. When your leg is behind your torso, that hip is in extension. When your leg is in front of you, that hip is in flexion. If you have decent form, your "flexor" and "extensor" muscles will be balanced. Normal running will facilitate this balance to a certain extent.

When you run on a treadmill, something completely different happens. As you bring one leg from behind you to in front of you, you are using your hip flexors. On a treadmill you are still able to use these muscles. It is doing the other part of the motion when it becomes flawed. When your foot strikes the treadmill, the belt automatically takes your leg back behind you, meaning that you don't use your "extensor" muscles. Your extensor muscles include your glutes and hamstrings. Treadmills allow for a good development of the front part of your hips and legs, but neglect the back part of your hips and legs.

What does this mean to you? Two things.

First: This imbalance gives you a faulty foundation. It's like building a skyscraper in quick sand. The spine needs a better foundation or pain and limitation will result.

Second: YOU WILL HAVE NO BUTT!!! Your gluteals (buttocks) are the largest muscles in your body. They are powerful, and designed to propel you forward when you are running. On a treadmill, you have no need for them, so they don't work. When they don't work, they atrophy. When they atrophy, they get small.

NBD (No Butt Disease) is 100% preventable. Get off the treadmill!

In health,
Chris Janke
www.FSTworkout.com