Smart Training Matters Blog by Drs. Manison and Antico

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Dr. Manison

Welcome to Pro Form Instruction, LLC’s blog site, ‘Smart Training Matters.’  This blog has been created to discuss biomechanics and fitness matters.  Some topics might be more controversial than others, but, a lot can be learned from a good discussion.   Please remember that without you, there is no blog experience…so, please join in the discussions so that we can fully discuss each topic so as to garner as much information as possible.  Only through this process will be able to work out in an optimal fashion.  We hope you enjoy Smart Training Matters and help make it a useful reference source for your fitness interest!

Please feel free to send us comments on this page about what topics you would like to see discussed in future blog discussions.

If you leave a comment on a particular blog, please give us 48 hours to respond…thank you…

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Should Personal Trainers/Fitness Professionals Be Required to Take College Level Classes?

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Dr. Manison

A new movement in the fitness field is to make all fitness professionals take college level classes. This is an interesting topic of discussion.  There are many national certifying agencies for personal trainers but the question can be raised as to how legitimate the certifications are?  How well prepared is a personal trainer to deal with all that he/she might encounter in the gym? Do fitness professionals really have a complete understanding of anatomy, kinesiology, and physiology?  Do they fully understand injuries and how they occur?

This is a very interesting topic and we invite an open discussion.  Please join in and share your thoughts. Continue reading →

Posted in Biomechanics, Education, Uncategorized, Working Out | Leave a comment

Do You Know How To Squat? Do You Know What You Are Squatting For?

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Dr. Manison

Many of us in the gym squat.  Be it front squats, high bar squats, low bar squats, or whatever other concoction someone comes up with, the motion of the squat is essentially the same: we put weight up on our shoulder region somewhere and bend our legs…this is truly the simple explanation.

A recent paper (2/09) by Matthew Dritz, MSc, John Cronin, PhD, and Patria Hume, PhD, entitled The Bodyweight Squat: A Movement Screen for the Squat Pattern, evaluated the research on the squat and devised the ‘proper’ position for this exercise. They looked at Baechle’s, Bloomfield’s, and Kinakin’s work on the subject to devise their methodology.  I, for one, really embrace this paper.  As a sports rehabilitation specialist, I very much appreciate the concern for proper form and certainly for a neutral spine. Continue reading →

Posted in Biomechanics, Incorrect Exercises, Stability/Balance, Uncategorized, Working Out | 1 Comment

Rock Climbing…Acyclic Combined Activity…How Tiring!!

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Dr. Manison

After steep hiking/rock climbing Red Rock Canyon State Park in Nevada for over 3.5 hours, I was interested in knowing just how many calories I had burned and why I was feeling so tired.

For those who have never been rock climbing / steep hiking, it’s a very aggressive exercise and is very demanding and tiring.  It is a lot of fun though!  I am in very good shape, and to be honest, this type of exercise kicks my butt. Continue reading →

Posted in Biomechanics, Stability/Balance, The Core, Uncategorized, Working Out | Leave a comment

Cross Crawl Patterning and Tonic Labyrinthine Reflexes…A Novel Approach

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Dr. Manison

I was fortunate enough to have met and learned a good amount of information in the short period of time I spent with Dr. David Walther many years ago while attending an Applied Kinesiology seminar.  Dr. Walther was a very knowledgeable and respected doctor and was, in many ways, like many of the Applied Kinesiology pioneers, ahead of his time.

Always having an interest in biomechanics and working out, I quickly developed a fond appreciation of Dr. Walther’s take on Cross Crawl patterning.  This topic really piqued my interest!  I distinctly recall one conversation I had with him when he discussed Tonic Labyrinthine Reflexes (TLR)  (an expanded understanding of such) and the association with Cross Crawl patterning. Continue reading →

Posted in Biomechanics, Incorrect Exercises, Neurology, The Core, Working Out | Leave a comment

Are You Paying Your Trainer For A 60 Minute Session And Only Getting 25 Minutes of Training?

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Dr. Manison

One way we evaluate a personal trainer is by means of establishing how much work the trainer is making the client do. Simply put, is the trainer spending more time talking with the client, or is the client working out and maximizing their time. When in the gym, I tend to watch trainers work with their clients (sorry for being a perfectionist). I don’t interject, but I like to see what they are doing (or not doing) as this helps me better understand what is going on with training as a whole and it also helps with all these blog topics!

All too often, clients spend a small amount of their time with their trainer actually working out. I’m sometimes amazed at how much conversation goes on and how many minutes pass between sets. I seldom think that the client’s hard-earned money is going to good use. Continue reading →

Posted in Incorrect Exercises, Uncategorized, Working Out | 4 Comments

Stability, Where to Start?

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Dr. Manison

All too often, we see fitness professionals in the gym starting deconditioned clients out on stability exercises that are simply too high of a level.

For example, a trainer takes a class on how to use a BOSU ball or Swiss (rehab.) ball and comes back into the gym on Monday and has all of his/her clients using such apparatuses. The trainer does not do a stability assessment and really doesn’t know what the client is capable of, but the trainer feels the need to try out what was just learned so everyone gets on a BOSU or Swiss ball.  This is a HUGE mistake as the trainer might be doing more harm than good. Continue reading →

Posted in Biomechanics, Incorrect Exercises, Stability/Balance, The Core, Working Out | Leave a comment

Leg Lifts/Sit-ups…What You Think You Are Doing And What You Are Actually Doing…

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Dr. Manison

A common exercise performed in the gym that really concerns us is the supine or hanging leg lift.  In fact, you can throw sit-ups into this equation as well.  It never ceases to amaze us how many people in the gym are doing damage to their spines as they try to train what they think is their abdominal region.

Anatomy and kinesiology dictate that in order to contract the rectus abdominis, one must approximate the thoracic cage to the pelvis or vice versa (and no, I’m not including isometric contractions here).  This is not occurring with the aforementioned exercises, and even with a sit-up, it only occurs during the first 30 degrees of body flexion…the rest of the motion is very, very bad for you! Continue reading →

Posted in Biomechanics, Incorrect Exercises, The Core, Working Out | 3 Comments

Wow! Do You See What I See? All These New Exercises!

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Dr. Manison

My gym has been closed for a few weeks for ‘renovations’ so I have been forced to use one of the other area affiliated gyms.  While there, I couldn’t help but notice all the new and interesting exercises.  In fact, the form (or lack thereof) of most people training was the worst I’ve seen in years.  Many of the people working out were college kids, probably doing what they’ve been taught by coaches and/or trainers.  I’ll just comment here on some of the new and interesting exercises I observed: Continue reading →

Posted in Biomechanics, Working Out | 5 Comments

Why You Do Not Want To Do Shoulder Lateral Raises and Upright Rows

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Dr. Manison

Shoulder biomechanics is a good topic to start our blog with as there are so many exercises done improperly that lead to significant injury.  I’ll discuss two here.  Before I begin, I’ll address some basic biomechanics.

The shoulder is a complicated joint complex that has three primary joints: the acromioclavicular joint, the sternoclavicular joint, and the glenohumeral joint.  The sternoclavicular joint helps connect the shoulder girdle to the sternum, the acromioclavicular joint connects (although not too well) the scapula bone to the clavicle, and the glenohumeral joint is the big ball and socket joint that moves the most and is what we generally think of when we discuss the shoulder.

Unlike the hip joint, the shoulder gives up stability for mobility.  This means that the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments) holding the shoulder together are relatively fragile, especially if we do things to hurt them.  Continue reading →

Posted in Biomechanics, Shoulder, Working Out | 2 Comments