HeartFit For Duty

The Science Behind Fire Fighter Cardiac Incidents- FRCE

9/22/2022

Mobility Basics: What Is Mobility For?

9/20/2022

Mobility is the ability to display the full range of motion around a joint, with control

As opposed to passive flexibility – which is simply about being able to get into or near the end range, with mobility we’re more concerned with having strength in that range.
It’s about being able to enter most positions that most humans should be able to enter and to be relatively comfortable and stable there.

Why is Mobility Important?
3 Big Benefits of Mobility:

1. Freedom Of Movement
If you want be able to play an intense game of hide and seek with your younger family members or have the ability to head out for a spontaneous hike/climb/surf/dance, mobility is a big part of being able you to do that.

Having functional joints lets you assume the necessary positions with ease and subsequently have fun doing everyday physical activities, as opposed to being uncomfortable and seeing them as chores.

Essentially, it comes down to supporting your health-span – increasing your potential to be able to enjoy a higher quality of life for a longer.

2. Injury Prevention
Let’s be clear:

Including some mobility exercises in your training doesn’t guarantee you’ll never get injured.

The reality is when we’re out there having fun, accidents happen.

But having a sound structural base will probably serve you well in everyday movement scenarios and more risky competitive environments.

We know that:

Restricted hip mobility is strongly correlated with various pathologies of the hip, lumbar spine & lower extremity
Stiffness through the ankles may increase our risk of knee injury
Reduced range of motion and a strength deficit in the external rotators of the shoulder have been shown to increase the risk for overuse chronic shoulder pain in overhead athletes

3. Performance
Mobility is one of the foundational traits of high performers, and something I think we’ll see an increasing focus on in coming years.

While strength, endurance and flexibility will vary greatly between, say, a dancer, marathon runner and strength athlete, one thing will likely be common:

They have the range of motion and control (aka mobility) to adapt mechanically sound, efficient positions for their chosen activity.

A better position = increased potential to deliver force and/or perform to your highest standard.

In short, if you can adopt a stable position, you can likely be more efficient with your movements, delivering more force per unit of energy expended.

Not only that, many people I’ve observed that have some kind of mobility practice often find it’s easier to pick up new skills and drill the appropriate technique for said skill.

That could be throwing a punch, learning a new submission or refining your swimming technique.

When you start to develop more control over your body, your performance potential truly skyrockets.

Here’s a diagram demonstrating how mobility is the bedrock upon which all other physical feats are formed:
Mobility–Stability–Performance Build that foundation

Improving Mobility: The Process.
A few important things to consider on your mobility journey:

Test-re-test. The only way to figure out if an exercise is really working for you is to test your range of motion before the exercise, and then after. We’re looking for visible improvements within the session, and small improvements between sessions.

Discomfort, not pain. Rolling out your calves is never gonna be a fun experience. But there’s a difference between pain and discomfort. Don’t cross that threshold. Or as Kelly Starrett puts it: “Don’t enter the pain cave – your spirit animal can’t help you there…”

Put your mobility into motion. There’s little use in improving your mobility and end-range strength if you’re going to spend the remainder of your day sat down in a crappy position. So if you’re after lasting changes, use every opportunity you can to put your mobility into use. Spend time in that low squat, reach your arms overhead, play with different locomotion patterns etc. View movement as a way of life, as opposed to something you do every now and again.

How Often Should You Train Mobility?
The age-old answer: It depends…

It depends on how much time you have/want to make, how many restrictions you have (and their severity), and how far you wanna take things.

But mobility doesn’t have to be an all day thing. Your best bet is to start with 10 minutes a day, just focusing on one or two areas.

Play with a few exercise variations for a few minutes each, get that particular challenge up to an acceptable level, then move on to something else.

As you become more comfortable, you learn more about your body and you start to experience the benefits of mobility training, you then might start adding in mini movement breaks, longer mobility sessions etc.

Retrieved from Heromovement.net, written by Luke Jones.
Follow link for 100+ mobility exercises
https://www.heromovement.net/blog/mobility-exercises/

The 10 Health Commandments

9/13/2022

Sleep MUST be a priority: getting the proper amount and quality of sleep affects your hormones, creating a trickle-down effect. For example, lack of quality sleep increases ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and decreases leptin, the horomone that signals you're full. This causes you to eat more and reach for less healthy comfort foods.
Keep it simple, more whole foods and less processed foods: highly processed foods are typically high in refined sugars & flours sodium, saturated fats, trans fats, artificial sweeteners, and chemical preservatives. Eating these foods can lead to inflammation in the body, which can cause chronic disease, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, joint pain, soreness, and much more.
Build a healthy plate by including: Quality proteins - fish, poultry, grass-fed beef, eggs. Limit highly processed meats like deli meats and bacon and buy nitrate free and organic. Healthy fats - focus on unsaturated fats like olive and avocado oil, nuts, natural nut butters, eggs, salmon, avocados. Some saturated fats are necessary in small amounts (coconut oil, grass-fed butter, meats, eggs. Vegetables - include them in every meal! Eat a variety of colors. Steam, sauté, or roast them. Drizzle them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and/or seasoning towards the end to add flavor. Healthy carbs - veggies, fruit, regular/sweet potatoes, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, quinoa, farro, rice (not quick cook or flavored). Limit processed carbs like pasta and bread.
Make it a lifestyle change, not a diet: "diets" produce short-term results and we want healthy nutrition to last a lifetime!
Read the labels: it is just as important to look at the ingredients list as it is the macros (protein, fat, carbs). More ingredients usually = more processed. If you can't pronounce the word it probably shouldn't be in your food!
It doesn't have to be more expensive to eat healthy: cooking meals at home averages $15 for the work week, eating out averages $8-$12 per day.
You have time for what you make time for, make nutrition a priority: figure out what works with your schedule and set aside 2-3 hours a week to grocery shop and prep ingredients to make lunches and dinners.
Get up and move: do yoga, strength training, cardio, walk.Get your body moving and get up from the desk when possible.
PSA!! There is no such thing as a perfect diet: we are all biologically different with unique gut microbiomes. Figure out what works for your body and your lifestyle so that it is sustainable for 30 more years. Don't do fad diets!!
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." - Hippocrates: many chronic health conditions are diseases are caused by lifestyle choices, this means you can prevent many through healthy nutrition.