Have a great holiday!
Sorry if this post looks a little wierd. I'm doing it from my phone. I haven't done this before.
Mitchell Rothbardt, CPT ACE
Mitch Rothbardt Training
510-754-7113
http://mitchrothbardttraining.blogspot.com
Discover Your Strength
So...phone...do you wanna go out this weekend?
Last thing. I am thinking about joining the Twitter revolution, but I will only do it if people are actually interested in following it. Please let me know if you want to see me do this. Also, if anyone out there has any suggestions to make the Twitter experience better for my readers, please let me know. By the way, the Tweets will be quick training tips or reminders or a good way to let my clients know that I have some free time. It won't be letting everyone know that I just had a bowl of oatmeal.
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Just look at that internal rotation! He needs to do some rows.
Anyway, that brings us to this morning. I've always known that if you were able to bench press a certain weight, you should be able to do a pullup with pretty much that same weight (bodyweight included). So, for example, my maximum bench press is about 265 pounds. My body weight is about 175 lbs. That means that I should be able to do a pullup with about 9o lbs. hanging on me. After three sets of good benching and two sets of heavy weighted pullups (35 lbs. for six good reps) I felt good and decided to add a 45 lb. plate to the 35 lb. plate that was already on my belt to see what I could do. I know it's only 80 lbs. added not 90, but after the work I had already done, I didn't think about quibbling over 10 lbs.
In any case check out the video.
I know the video is a little grainy, but I'm proud of this lift. My bench number is not great, to put it mildly, but many people that have great bench numbers can barely do one or two good bodyweight pullups. I'm very happy and proud that I've put in well rounded work. Now if I can only get that bench number to 275, I'd really be happy!
I think I've given people enough easy stuff to do in my articles. It's time to make them sweat!
Always be sure to keep a neutral back position
Laundry Bag Carry-20 seconds
Hug a laundry bag full of clothes to your chest and simply walk with it.
Drop me a line for some more ideas and don’t forget to consult your physician before beginning any exercise program.
- from the Castro Valley Forum, May 27, 2009
In any case, the spine can withstand a much greater amount of compressive force than shearing force and bending over causes a large amount of shearing force.
In short, just try not to bend too much after waking up.
3. Don't sit for more than 20-30 minutes at a time.
Sitting is, quite literally, one of the worst things we can do to our spine for a few different reasons. For one thing sitting puts a tremendous amount of force on our discs. Dr. Stuart McGill, who is one of the world's foremost authorities on spine health, has done research on just about every possible area of low back problems. He found in his research that there is literally no good sitting position. Each position he researched uncovered a greater than healthy amount of compressive force on some area of the spine.
Another reason is that sitting tightens up our hips. When we sit we are causing a group of muscles called the hip flexors to flex and tighten. When we sit for long periods of time something called "creep" happens. That is what it's called when a group of muscles actually shorten. Shortened hip flexors cause tight hips and also cause bad posture, which pulls the back out of alignment. All this adds up to low back pain.
The answer to this is to make sure that you don't sit for long periods of time. Most computers have some sort of appointment calendar. Set yours to remind you every half hour to get up a take a walk to the water cooler. If you can't get up for some reason, at least change your sitting position every few minutes. This will spread the force around to different areas. Your back will thank you.
4. Think about your posture.
This really can't be overstated.
Our spine has natural curves that help spread around the pressure that is felt on our discs.
When we develop bad posture it puts more pressure on certain discs than others and that results in pain.
<>Can you feel the pain?
The easiest way to maintain posture is to always think about keeping your chest up and your abs tight. This goes double when sitting. It is very easy to look like the guy all the way to the right in the evolution picture. Keep your posture in mind.
5. Wear Your Backpack on Both Shoulders
This one is mostly for you students out there. It's very simple: when you wear your backpack over one shoulder you bend slightly to the other side to balance. Done long enough this can affect your posture.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. I wanted to just talk about a few simple things that people can do easily to good effect. I, myself, have really decreased my overall back stiffness after simply not sitting down after waking up.
The key for all of this is to be consistent and patient. None of these suggestions is going to have overnight results. If you do have a bad back, it likely took years to get it that way and a few days work isn't going to get back to perfect condition. It is a start, however, and a good one. Just as a great deal of back problems originate from the sum total of many small things, the treatment of a bad back can start with small changes that eventually add up to to a good deal of spinal stress reduction. In other words, less pain.
It can sometimes take a while to notice, but the back is a funny thing. We've all heard stories about people throwing out their backs picking up a pen. That didn't happen because of the pen, it happened because of the cumulative result of a lot of small things that turned into one big thing when someone bent over the wrong way and happened to be picking up a pen. 
This might not help you release the knots, but it will help you release your rock n' roll!
Another way to help is to use a foam roller. These are pretty easy to find. You can order them online at performbetter.com or etitefts.com. Just do a search and take a look. If you live in my area, they carry them at Relax the Back and Busy Body, both in Pleasanton. They run about $25. The standard size is about 5' long and about 6" around. Something like that.
Using one of these things is exactly like giving yourself a massage. It is the kind of thing that hurts like heck at first but as you use it more and more and the knots get healed you start to realize how valuable this thing is.
What happens when you use it is that you are causing a Rush of blood to the damaged areas throughout your body. 
Not that kind of Rush!
The blood helps heal the area which in turn, releases the fascial restrictions and you feel and move better. That's it. The key, like most things, is consistent use. Below I have a video of a good foam rolling sequence. In this video he also uses a tennis ball for some areas, which is a great way to get at some of the smaller, hard to reach spots. At first, though, sticking with the roller for those areas is fine. As you get looser and more used to it, get a tennis ball to use. You'll feel the difference.
