Rethinking Effort

An intense societal pressure to perform drives our North American culture: bigger, better, faster, higher, more, again and again and again. There is little room for error and no room for rest. With all kinds of electronic gadgetry, people are potentially available to others every hour of every day. Individuals are pressured to be experts in their work and finances, to be fantastic parents raising fantastic kids and to be actively involved in their local schools and communities. People schedule an impossible number of activities into every day and when a free moment appears, more things to do quickly fill the void.

The pressure to perform has squeezed its way into our understanding of physical health as well. The picture of physical health fed to the public over the last several decades speaks mostly to measurable cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and stamina, combined with balanced caloric intake. Over the years, a healthy active lifestyle has been largely replaced by the repetitive flexing of isolated muscles in a gym or fitness class setting. For those who carve the time out of their busy schedules, most will attack their physical play time with a particular intensity - wanting to sweat, burn calories, fatigue the muscles and generally flex, flex, flex to a fit and healthful state in as little time as possible.

Traditional fitness plays an important role in the sphere of overall health. However, if the equation for physical health is reduced to nothing more than energy burned always being more than or equal to energy consumed, then the bigger picture is lost. What goes on in the rest of the body when we attempt to burn the most possible energy in the shortest amount of time - time and time again? Are we creating effort where there could be ease, tension where there could be flow? Consider this: how many people do you know who regularly get less than 8 hours sleep a night, or suffer from restless sleep or insomnia? How many people do you know who suffer from frequent joint pain and stiffness? How many people do you know who just cannot seem to stick to an exercise routine? Can our approach to physical activity have a part in any of these questions? Perhaps a more holistic view of fitness, taking the relationships between all of the body's systems into account could offer us more support for our whole lives.

Many of the activities people choose in their pursuit of fitness, and the way they attack these activities can potentially promote a sympathetic (fight or flight) response in the body. Combined with other stresses in life, it seems possible that working out this way on a regular basis could contribute to a state of sympathetic stress over time. Under stress, the body loses resiliency (more lost resiliency than can be explained away by the aging process). Musculoskeletal dysfunction and injuries, immune system depletion, hormone imbalances, digestive stress - all of these are indicators that the body is regularly working beyond its capablity as a whole, and moving into stress. There is mainstream medical evidence that suggests that chronic sympathetic overload can have serious consequences for every system in the body. What can we do about this? Good nutrition and adequate rest certainly play a part. I also believe that training in a physically mindful way can help us embody our experiences for more health benefits over the long run.

Imagine a world where it is possible to create strength, stamina and agility without the kind of willful effort many people are used to imposing on themselves. I am not talking about the fabled fluff of infomercials: "Ideal fitness in 3 minutes a day!" No. That's still just fluff. It is true that in order to grow (stronger, smarter, more flexible) we have to ask more of ourselves than we are currently able to handle easily. I am simply suggesting that it is possible to redirect our sense of effort into working in a more mindful and sensory way. To begin to find "the zone" more often in our physical experience - that integrated state where everything seems to move smoothly. It is still possible to work on the edge, in order to challenge oneself, without bracing the body and forcing oneself onward. It simply takes attention, and a sometimes little more time. With time though, it feels BETTER.

I believe that the foundation for a more holistic approach is breath and a true connection to the body's core (not just strong abdominals!). Through those connections, it is possible to release tension in the body that is not serving a purpose. Free up inefficiently expended energy to allow yourself to move more easily, able to take on a new/different load. Play with the idea of softening your strength and strengthening your softness. Dissolve tension and muscle density into flow. When you want to bear down to find strength, challenge yourself to resist compression and reach out instead! You'll find a different kind of intensity to satisfy you. Train the body in a balanced way - not too much of any one thing. Don't forget to play! Establish relationships to the world around you - physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Movement practices like yoga and Pilates can offer a gateway to working the body in this way, but it is possible to find even while training for a marathon, playing hockey or playing with the kids. Perhaps, if we can begin to adopt this approach in our own bodies, we can start to slow down and find balance in the rest of our lives as well.

My challenge to you for the New Year is this: look for ways to balance effort, intensity and drive with mindfulness and sensory awarenss in your physical pusuits. Be present in your body and observe what is going on in the moment. Make choices regarding your training based on what is really there, not what you wish was there. Feel your edges. Are you hanging on by the skin of your teeth and the sheer force of your will? Mental toughness is one thing. Integrate it with physical smarts and your body will love you for life. You may find that in relating better to your own body, the rest of your world is a little easier to deal with too!

"Core Stability" - What Does It Mean and How Do I Get It?

Core stability. These words are tossed around easily these days: common "jock talk." But what do the words really mean? A strong core enables a stable pelvis and spine. Yes.... But what is the core? Strong abdominal muscles? I have worked with many wonderful people who have beautiful, "ripped" and rock hard abdominals, but who have back pain due to a lack of spinal/pelvic stability. Okay - perhaps core training involves more than simply strengthening abdominal muscles. How do the pelvic floor muscles fit in? The respiratory diaphragm? The back muscles? Simply "tightening those abs" may not be enough...

In most fitness and medical circles, the body's inner core musculature is commonly accepted to be made up of four structures: the respiratory diaphragm, the transversus abdominus, the lumbar multifidus and the muscles of the pelvic floor. When this inner unit is strong, the pelvis and spine are generally fairly well supported. This is a good thing; but is it the whole story? I believe not. In my experience, coordination and balance are the key. Strengthening the inner unit within an inch of its life may actually be a hindrance, if it is not strengthened relative to the actual load/movement needs of that particular body. As much as external bracing can hinder mobility in a body with a weak core, bracing of the inner unit can immobilize deep structures leading to dysfunction of a different kind. The trick is to find the balance of strength and mobility that creates the least amount of stress on the body as a whole.

In her article, "Recent Advances in the Assessment and Treatment of the Sacroiliac Joint - Stability &The Role of Motor Control," physiotherapist Dianne Lee describes joint stability as: "The effective accommodation of the joints to each specific load demand through an adequately tailored joint compression, as a function of gravity, coordinated muscle and ligament forces, to produce effective joint reaction forces under changing conditions. Optimal stability is achieved when the balance between peformance (the level of stability) and effort is optimized to economize the use of energy. Non-optimal joint stability implicates altered laxity/stiffness values leading to increased joint translations resulting in a new joint position and/or exaggerated/reduced joint compression, with a disturbed performance/effort ratio." (Vleeming, A. , Albert HB, van der Helm FCT, Lee, D, Ostgaard HC, Stuge B and Struresson, B)

Based on this definition of joint stability, I think that any exercise program with a goal to create core stability must include the following:

• education of the client as to the specific components of the inner unit and its relationship to other structures, increasing both intellectual and felt-sense awareness;
• identification of client's current stabilizing strategies, and a deconstruction of inefficent patterning;
• strengthening, coordination and well-timed activation of specific muscle groups, in relation to each other, in various movements, leading to ease of motion in the WHOLE body.

The really interesting part about creating this kind of training program is that it is not a linear process. The pace of each client's progress will be different as each one encounters his/her own challenges to awareness, balance and strength. One cannot safely deconstruct inefficient postural/movement patterning until the client has something better to take its place. Helping someone to find their way to real core stability is an exciting dance where the persistent and curious usually find their way. There is no instant fix... just an intriguing process whereby the body becomes better and better equipped to handle itself in the world.