Balanced Health & Fitness

Analysis of the Lat Pulldown

2008-08-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

Only recently has the safety and effectiveness of the posterior lat pulldown become questionable. Despite the fact that increasing numbers of fitness professionals are cognizant of the dangers of the posterior lat pull down fitness enthusiasts who undertake resistance training are, for the most part, still unaware of the impracticality of this exercise and can still be seen performing it.
The posterior lat pulldown puts the shoulder complex at risk and should be eliminated from your list of acceptable exercises because the negative consequences outweigh the benefits. But that is not to say you should never ever do a lat pulldown. What is recommended is that this exercise be replaced with the anterior lat pulldown, which is more practical in function. The posterior lat pulldown involves pulling the bar down behind the head whereas the anterior lat pulldown involves pulling the bar down in front of the head. Every other aspect of the exercise remain basically the same.

Why Change? By changing the position of the pulldown from posterior to anterior will result in fewer injuries to the shoulder complex. From a practical point of view, everyday activities do not usually require pulling a resistance down behind the head. But day in and day out you can find yourself pulling down or pushing up a resistance in front of the body. Therefore, when putting a training routine together you should try and include exercises that would mimic daily functional movements you generally perform.

So What's Really Going On? Even though the shoulder is considered a ball and socket joint it isn't actually an encapsulated ball inside of a socket. The head of the humerus actually glides underneath the acromion process. Because of the mechanics of this joint stabilization is particularly important within and around the shoulder. Furthermore, the articular capsule, which completely surrounds the joint, is not a rigid structure and allows for a significant separation of the articulating surfaces during anterior and inferior humeral displacement. Structurally, the joint is protected superior by the coracoacrmial arch and anterior by the glenohumeral ligament. Because of this all the major ligaments cross the superior or top portion of the shoulder joint and no major ligaments or muscle are associated with the inferior or underside.

That Means What Biomechanically? A posterior lat pulldown requires torso and cervical spine flexion during the concentric phase of the exercise in order to accommodate placement of the bar behind the head. As a result, three planes of motion simultaneously occur at the joint: adduction, external rotation, and horizontal hyper abduction. This situation places force on the humeral head, encouraging displacement anterior and inferior out of the joint capsule.Placing the upper extremity in concurrent abduction and external rotation (as with the posterior pulldown position) adds stress to the inferior glenohumeral ligament, which is the primary static stabilizer of the shoulder joint.
Go ahead and add some heavy weight, a few extra repetitions and maybe an improper hand placement to this posterior exercise and you have just created a recipe for major overuse injuries. Rarely can victims of an overuse injury recall an acute event that prompted the trauma rather, they notice that their "symptoms" become gradually more debilitating.

So How Bad Can It Really Be? The following is a short list of some injuries commonly associated with the shoulder joint from the at-risk position of the posterior lat pulldown.

Subluxation: Subluxation is a partial anterior-inferior displacement of the humeral head from the glenoid fossa due to tears of the labrum, anterior ligaments, and joint capsule.
Dislocation: Dislocation is a total anterior-inferior displacement of the humeral head to a greater degree than subluxation.
Impingement: This injury commonly occurs in the tendons of the supraspinatus and the long head of the biceps, as well as the subacrmial bursa. The coracoacromial arch (coracoid and acromion processes, coracoacromial ligament) is a naturally tight space that allows a specific tendon thickness to pass through it unobstructed. With overuse and repetitive irritation over time, most tissues will respond with inflammation and swelling causing an impingement.
Rotator Cuff Tears: A rotator cuff tear is a strain or complete rupture of one of the rotator cuff tendons (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, subscapularis).
Spinous Process Damage: These are bone fractures and soft tissue sprains and bruises due to collision of the bar with the lower cervical region.
Ballistic Potential: The posterior pulldown is often executed with poor technique. For example, the bar may be pulled ballistically toward the body, bounced off the spinous process, and returned to the starting position with a lack of eccentric control. When done properly, a lat pulldown is not ballistic but instead possesses tensile qualities through a controlled full range of motion.

Now Let's Talk Form... To properly accomplish this exercise the feet should be flat on the floor and knees tucked under a padded bar, to keep yourself seated firmly erect. Depending on the desired width of the grasp (moving hands closer, or farther apart will stress different parts of the muscles) grasp the overhead bar in a pronated or overhand grip (palms facing away from you towards the front, knuckles up) pull your shoulders straight down towards the floor and pull smoothly downwards on the bar. The move should be executed by concentrating on attempting to bring the shoulder blades together in the back and your elbows as far towards the floor as possible. Imagine cracking a walnut between your shoulder blades. Do not lean back and use your body weight to pull the bar down. Arch your back in the middle and complete the downward move by touching the center of the bar to the collarbone area or upper chest. Hold in this position briefly, concentrating on form and bringing the shoulder blades close and contracting the lats. Slowly and in a controlled manner, return the bar upward until your arms are straight, then move your shoulder blades wide and shoulders up high as if you are shrugging and allow the pull of the bar to stretch the muscles in your back that were contracted performing the exercise. Relax for a second, pause and repeat the exercise until repetitions are complete or muscle is exhausted, according to your exercise plan.

Other Variations...This exercise can be varied by changing two major positions involving the grip. Different widths of the hands from nearly twice as wide as shoulder width to as close as inside the shoulder, and changing the position of the hands from overhand, to supinated, to parallel will alter the path the elbows take and thus stress different portions of the muscle. In addition, multiple cables may be used by advanced exercisers to escape the motion limitations imposed by the use of a single bar.
To view variations and advanced pulldown exercises click on the following link: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?MainMuscle=Lats

Remember no matter what exercise you are performing it is imperative to always concentrate on using proper technique through kinesthetic awareness and visualization of joint movement and muscle fiber contraction. To stave off injury pay attention to how you feel from day to day, workout to workout and listen to what your body is saying to you. Never "work through" chronic pain or any type of discomfort that could be the beginning of an overuse injury . The old adage, "No Pain, No Gain" isn't for you, the educated exerciser of today. Continue to change your exercise routines, live alittle, try something new and by all means....QUESTION EVERYTHING.

In Health,
W

One Hour a Week

2008-03-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

How long would it take to build a house if you only worked on it for 1 hour per week? I know that sounds ridiculous, but it is the best analogy for the "just 10 minutes a day" phrase that so called professionals use when describing the amount of time needed for exercise. Unfortunately, many people grab hold of this and believe that they are living a healthy lifestyle. Sure, if you were to be completely deconditioned, having never done anything more than walked from the couch to the refrigerator and back, 10 minutes would be a lot. However, if you wake up, go to work, take care of your home, go to bed and wake up to do it all over again, then 10 minutes isn't even close to enough.

Many people quote the Surgeon General's report as the catalyst for the ten minutes a day mantra. However, the report merely mentions other reports that claim 10 minutes of activity works. The report goes on to say that ALL American adults need 30 to60 minutes of CONTINUOUS vigorous exercise per day. And the list of health benefits is staggering, yet not surprising.

Here is a link to the report:
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=WZZPc1FmL7QC&dq=surgeon+general%27s+report&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=5UDkU4Tc7k&sig=oipcP5bc9cuXiWQu0IyKv5BsLWQ&prev=http://www.google.com/search?q=surgeon+general%27s+report&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7HPIA&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=2&cad=bottom-3results#PPP1,M1

It's not a quick read, but it is an interesting one.

We won!! We had our first victory last night. OK, so it was a forfeit, the fact is it's a 1 in the "W" column. I asked my teammates after last weeks game "How many of you picked up a basketball between tonight's game and last week's game?" No hands went up. So how could we think we would be competitive with teams that play 3 times per week? So the "one hour per week is not enough" translates into most everything we do. To be successful in anything, it takes time and effort. How many hours do musicians spend practicing? How many hours has Tiger spent hitting golf balls? Make the time for your healthy lifestyle.

Healthfully yours,
BH&F

The Competitive Spirit

2008-02-05T05:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has taken so long for me to update this blog. I would like to use the excuse of being sick or too busy, but that's not it. I was embarrassed; I did almost cough up a lung running up and down the court! There I admitted it. And that's the first step in recovery isn't it? I admit that I am not 22 anymore. I can't just wake up one morning and decide that I am going to play a vigorous game of basketball, or ski all day with out warming up (yep, did that too, over the Christmas Holiday...my thighs were screaming!) What I am not embarrassed about is my competitive spirit. And I got a boost today from, of all places, The New York Times. In an article by Gina Kolata; Staying Ahead of Aging. In case you forgot, or you think it won't happen to you, we ALL grow old! But we don't have to go quietly. A study by Dr. Vonda Wright from the University of Pittsburgh found that you can rekindle or even begin to start a competitive lifestyle at the time when most people are slowing down. They found people who started running their first marathons at 63! The statement that "You're never too old..." is true. Obviously the person who starts at 63 is not going to beat the person who is 23, but the 63 year old could very well beat another 60 ish runner. And better yet, they can continue to compete against themselves.

The other interesting finding was the people who were athletes all their lives had to come to grips with the fact that they are indeed slowing down. Even if they maintained an active lifestyle, the body just didn't work as well as it did 20-30 years ago. The authors found that there is a good amount of burnout in these type of people. I like to cal this "i-use-to-itis": "I use to do this...I use to do that...I use to run 20 miles a day and no I only run 10..." It's a natural thing to slow down. It is also natural to stop (aka die), but to a certain extent you can prolong the inevitable. Read the article and let me know what you think.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/health/nutrition/31BEST.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ei=5087&em&en=68860ef425fb2ad3&ex=1202014800&adxnnlx=1202209763-CmNjydS45TV8XqYeK4CZiw

And by the way, our basketball team is in a growth year. We are 0-5. They haven't been close games, but they have been fun. As an example, and this isn't an excuse, the first team we played won the whole kit and kaboodle last year. We showed up with 4 players and needed to barrow one of theirs. Needless to say that didn't give us their ace. We have improved slightly since then, we usually have 6-8 players show up. So just when it feels like razor blades are tearing up your lungs you can get a substitution. What's promising is in this league your record really only counts in the playoffs because we all go to the playoffs. So theoretically we could loose the whole season, but win the tournament! Yes I am a dreamer.

Healthfully Yours,
Greg

What IS your goal?

2007-11-21T11:51:00.000-08:00

WHAT’S YOUR GOAL?
No, really, what is your goal? Why do you exercise? I guess another term for “goal” could be “motivation”. I think they are interchangeable. What is your motivation? What brought you to the front door of our club (or any club) in the first place? Why did you buy that home exercise machine (and by the way, there is not a “one machine for the whole body”. But that’s another blog.)

We are all motivated by something different, yet incredibly similar. I, for instance, am motivated by competition. I love to compete. Win or lose, as long as I gave it my best shot, I will usually have a great time. Of course winning makes it even nicer. So I exercise as a means to an end; the end being a sport of some sort. A year and a half ago I crossed a pretty big threshold- I turned 40. It opened up a new opportunity for me, the “Over 40 Men’s Basketball League”. WOW!! A whole new reason to keep exercising. I thought to myself “There is no way I am going to look like one of those pot bellied old men running down the court. I may absolutely stink at basketball, but by golly I will look good, and I won’t want to cough up a lung before half time.” I’ll keep you posted on our team.

Research indicates that only about 2-5% of the human population exercises for the sake of exercising, or merely because they like it (sickos). The rest of us do it as a means to an end. So what is your end? Did you just see the Dr. and he told you to shed a few dozen pounds or you will be dead in less than 2 years? That’s motivating. Is your cholesterol high? Is your blood pressure reaching astronomical heights? Do you want to improve your golf game? Are you recovering from a knee or hip surgery? Or are you, as the cliché goes, sick and tired of being sick and tired? What is your desired end result?

There is one caveat, do not choose weight loss. You are guaranteed to become frustrated and stop exercising. Weight loss is a by-product of exercise and leading a healthy lifestyle. Think of it this way: let’s say your goal is to run a marathon. Don’t say I can’t because I’m too fat. Rather say to yourself “I’ll start with ¼ mile run/walk” and go from there. Then as you increase your mileage, your pounds will start to come off. And then you go farther and more weight comes off. You will probably change your eating habits so you can lose even more weight. See the cycle? If you just said “I want to lose weight” you would still be on the couch.

So let’s get a conversation going. Let me know what your goal/motivation/end is. Give me your story. How is the battle going? What triumphs have you had? What has been the most successful type of exercise for you? Believe it or not, what you say could and will help several people. It may also help you to understand that many people are having the same struggles as you.

And lastly, we will have information, critiques and opinions about what is being said about health and fitness and nutrition in the media. So if you see an interesting story, please forward it to me and we will discuss it.

Healthfully Yours,
Greg

What To Do About Abdominal Fat

2007-11-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

So when did it turn from "baby fat" to “middle age spread” and should I be concerned?

As women go through their middle years, their proportion of fat to body weight tends to increase - more than it does in men. At menopause, extra pounds tend to park themselves around the midsection, as the ratio of fat to lean tissue shifts even women who don’t actually gain weight may still gain inches at the waist. Be aware that as our waistline grows, so do our health risks. Lucky us!

Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it’s a key player in a variety of health problems - much more than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand. Visceral fat lies deep within the abdominal cavity, where it pads the spaces between our abdominal organs. Visceral fat has been linked to certain metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In women it is also associated with breast cancer and in some the need for gallbladder surgery.

Fat accumulated in the lower body (pear shaped) is subcutaneous, while fat in the abdominal area (apple shaped) is largely visceral. Where a woman’s fat ends up is influenced by several factors. Heredity is one: genes determine how many fats cells an individual develops and where these cells are stored. Hormones are another: at menopause, estrogen production decreases and the ratio of androgen (male hormones present in small amounts in women) to estrogen increases - a shift that’s been linked in some studies to increased abdominal fat after menopause. Some researchers suspect that the drop in estrogen levels at menopause is also linked to increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that promotes the accumulation of abdominal fat. As the evidence against fat mounts, researchers and clinicians are trying to measure it, correlate it with health risks, and monitor changes that occur with age and overall weight gain or loss.

The good news is that visceral fat yields fairly easily to exercise and diet, with benefits ranging from lower blood pressure to more favorable cholesterol levels. Subcutaneous fat located at the waist - the pinch-able stuff can be frustratingly difficult to budge, but in normal-weight people, it’s generally not considered as much of a health threat as visceral fat is.

What’s wrong with a little abdominal fat?
Body fat, or adipose tissue, was once regarded as little more than a storage depot for fat cells waiting to be used for energy. But research shows that fat cells are biologically active. Therefore, it is more accurate to think of fat as an endocrine organ or gland, producing hormones and other substances that can profoundly affect our health. One such hormone is leptin, which is normally released after a meal and dampens appetite. Fat cells also produce the hormone adiponectin, which is thought to influence the response of cells to insulin. With this research it is becoming clear that excess body fat disrupts the normal balance and functioning of these hormones.

One reason excess visceral fat is so harmful could be its location near the portal vein, which carries blood from the intestinal area to the liver. Substances released by visceral fat, including free fatty acids, enter the portal vein and travel to the liver, where they can influence the production of blood lipids. Visceral fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol, lower HDL (good) cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that your body’s muscle and liver cells don’t respond adequately to normal levels of insulin, the pancreatic hormone that carries glucose into the body’s cells. Glucose levels in the blood rise, heightening the risk for diabetes. Together, insulin resistance, high blood glucose, excess abdominal fat, unfavorable cholesterol levels (including high levels of triglycerides), and high blood pressure constitute the metabolic syndrome, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

So what can be done to decrease our fat stores?
The starting point is regular moderate intensity physical activity - at least 30 minutes per day (truthfully we should be saying 60 minutes per day) to control weight. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that the non-exerciser experiences a nearly 8% gain in visceral fat after 6 months. So subjects who exercised the equivalent of walking or jogging 12 miles per week put on no visceral fat, and those who exercised the equivalent of jogging 20 miles per week lost both visceral and subcutaneous fat.

Strength training also helps fight or shed abdominal fat. The University of Pennsylvania did a study on women, ages 24-44, for 2 years. Participants that were given an hour of weight training twice a week reduced their proportion of body fat by nearly 4% and were more successful in keeping off visceral fat. Spot or target exercising, such as doing sit-ups, can tighten the abdominal muscles, but it won’t get at visceral fat.

Diet is also important. Pay attention to portion size, and emphasize complex carbohydrates (fruits, whole grains and vegetables) and lean protein over simple carbohydrates such as white bread, refined pasta, and sugary drinks. Cutting calories drastically is not a good diet strategy, because it forces the body into starvation mode, slows metabolism and paradoxically causes it to store fat more efficiently later on. Because levels of the hormone DHEA decline with age, many people believe that DHEA supplement can reverse the age-related gain of abdominal fat. Although DHEA is converted in the body to testosterone and estrogen that help regulate various functions, studies have showed that it has no effect on age markers.

Lifestyle, Diet and Exercise
Experts concur that diet and exercise are the best ways to fight visceral fat. Even the smallest changes in your lifestyle diet and exercise programs can reap big rewards. Start today. Eat smaller portions, move a little more and breathe a little deeper. You will start to feel and look better before you know it.

In Health,
W