Tag: stress

August 2019 Links and Review

Every week, my newsletter subscribers get links to some of the goodies that I’ve come across on the internets. Here were the goodies that my peeps got their learn on in August. If you want to get a copy of my weekend learning goodies every Friday, fill out the form below.  That way you can brag to all your friends about the cool things you’ve learned over the weekend. [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Hell yes I want weekend learning goodies every Friday!”]

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Costa Rica Beginner’s Mind 2019 Retreat Review

Where can you combine learning, disengaging from life, connection, beach, sun, hiking, and so much more? That’s what Ben House has created with his Beginner’s Mind Retreat at Flō Retreat Center. A place where one can achieve all of the above and more. This trip marked the second time I’ve been here, and for good reason. It gives me the opportunity to personally recalibrate from the hectic work lifestyle I’ve grown accustomed too, while taking time out to better myself in more ways than one. This year’s retreat brought together several bright minds in the health and fitness realms, discussing topics ranging from training, mitochondria, stress, and more. The retreat is set up into two different weeks. The first week was functional medicine-oriented. After a three day break of chillin’ like Bob Dylan, the strength and conditioning week finished things off. The best part of this retreat is that learning is only one component. The lectures took up the morning, then the rest of the day was yours. You get time to train, go to the beach, hike, jump off of cliffs, eat good food, or just chill and play board games. The best part of this retreat is the people you encounter. It can be hard in our industry to find like-minded folks who live the lifestyle that fam like us live. But at Flo, healthy living is the norm. The people I’ve met at Ben’s place are people who I consider to be friends for a lifetime. That’s

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The Revolution: A Deep Dive into Antifragility Course Review

Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better. ~ Nassim Taleb, “Antifragile” That was the crux of the The Revolution: A Deep Dive into Antifragility. How do we, as health and fitness professionals, help our clientele improve with the stressors we impart? How do we take clients from various starting points—be it an immobile person in persistent pain, a complete beginner, or a high level athlete—and push them towards their goals? That’s what made this experience unique, as the three presenters, Seth Oberst, myself, and Pat Davidson, sought to create a continuum. For Seth, it was starting with the most fragile. Pat’s goal was to push performance to the highest level, to not survive, but thrive. While I aimed to be the middle ground; establishing the principles of movement common amongst all people.  And I want to share the highlights with you. While biased, I thought this was a unique experience. Though we all came at the deep dive from different angles, there were many commonalities shared.  Enjoy! Self Regulation – Seth Oberst As mentioned in a previous post, self regulation is the intrinsic ability to response to internal/external stressors with an efficient range of responses. There are three keys to demonstrating self-regulatory capabilities: Differentiating safety vs danger Responsivity Completion (Resolving the situation). Trauma, an unresolved defense pattern, negatively impacts these keys. To remedy this situation, we must reestablish each of these areas in a manner that promotes self-regulation. Providing

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Seth Oberst’s Stress, Movement, and Pain Course Review

Do you work with people who are stressed? Dumb question, right? Who isn’t stressed today? In fact, stress levels are probably at an all time high, and if you’ve read Robert Sapolsky’s work, is likely responsible for most of the conditions and maladies we face today. The question we must ask though is what role a movement professional has in helping someone mitigate stress? After attending Seth Oberst’s Stress, Pain, and Movement seminar, I think we now have an answer. Now I’ve taken a lot of courses in my day, and much of what I learned is the same poop, repackaged as different poop. That’s not to say that new perspectives aren’t useful, but most are looking at the same thing. Seth’s is the first class that I’ve been to in a hot minute where I had that feeling of “whoa, now this is different.” His approach looks at the struggles our patients and clients deal with through a very unique lens. To me, this course is the gold standard for learning just how problematic stress is for our patients, and what to do about it. Not only will you get an incredibly in-depth look at stress, autonomics, the nervous system, pain, and so much more, but you’ll learn some excellent methods to aid your clients in mitigating stress. I cannot recommend learning from Seth highly enough. If you want to attend, you can sign up here. While I won’t go into the great detail that Seth does on the brain,

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Top 10 Posts of 2018

At the end of each year, I like to see what you beautiful…sexy…outstanding people liked. What the fam….recognized (fam). This year, it seems like errbody was loving all of the movement-based work that was discussed. You want practical application as a coach or clinician, you got it! I also loved how all the guest posts I had this year made the top 10. There were some rock solid contributions from my fellow colleagues. Guess I’m going to need more album features if you know what I’m sizzlin’. I want to thank you, the fam, for making 2018 an outstanding year. It has been all the comments, questions, stories, and praise that keeps me outputting content for you. I think we will keep doing this another year. Why not? 😉 But enough rambling. Let’s check out the top 10. First off… 10. The Reckoning: Part Deux Course Review This was an excellent seminar that was run by two of my favorite doctors in the game: Pat Davidson and Ben House. The topics covered were a great variety of areas I needed more exposure in. If you want to learn how our movement limitations are evolutionary, the ins and outs of hypertrophy or fat loss, blood sugar regulation, you’ll just scratch the surface of what this course covered. If you ever get a chance to hear Pat or Ben in person, do so. In fact, you can hear Pat, myself, and Seth Oberst in February.  9. Why You Need Sun Exposure My man Iordan

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Better Breathing Buy-in: Educating Clients in 4 Easy Steps

I get a lot of questions from fam such as yourself, wondering: “Zac, you do some weird, wild and crazy things. How do you get buy-in with someone who has an issue that is seemingly unrelated to do the things that you want them to do?” Maybe they’re seeing you for wrist pain. Why the heck would I be breathing if my wrist hurts? Or maybe they’re squatting. Why would filling my upper back up help me squat more effectively? I have both had many successes and failures explaining what I am doing. Through these trials and tribulations, I’ve broken down education into a four step process with one concept in mind: the outcome. Below, I break down what those four steps are, and how you can implement this strategy into your practice. Enjoy the video, audio, and modified transcripts, as well as the links I mention in the talk.

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Hamstrings, Mental Resiliency, and Ankle Dorsiflexion – Movement Debrief Episode 47

Movement Debrief Episode 47 is in the books. Below is a copy of the video for your viewing pleasure, and audio if you can’t stand looking at me. Here is the set list: Do the hamstrings play a role with respiration? How does one train hamstrings? Can respiratory training improve mental resiliency and decision-making? How else can one improve decision-making in high stress environments? How do I approach improving ankle dorsiflexion? If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook or Instagram.They air every Wednesday at 7pm CST. Enjoy! and the audio version…                  Here were the links I mentioned: Sign-up for the Human Matrix September 15-16th here   Here is a link to the Complete Anatomy app Derek Hansen seminar course notes Derek Hansen Extreme Ownership The toe touch to the squat for narrow infrasternal angles The sink squat for wide infrasternal angles The counterweight squat as a terminal progression The Squatting Bar Reach: A Movement Deep Dive The Ultimate Guide to Treating Ankle Sprains Here’s a signup for my newsletter to get nearly 3 hours and 50 pages of content, a free acute:chronic workload calculator, basketball conditioning program, podcasts, and weekend learning goodies: [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Get learning goodies and more”] Hamstrings Mental Resiliency Ankle Dorsiflexion

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December Links and Review

Every week, my newsletter subscribers get links to some of the goodies that I’ve come across on the internets. Here were the goodies that my peeps got their learn on in December If you want to get a copy of my weekend learning goodies every Friday, fill out the form below.  That way you can brag to all your friends about the cool things you’ve learned over the weekend. [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Hell yes I want weekend learning goodies every Friday!”] Biggest Lesson of the Month I’ve been thinking a lot about generalism and specialism. Becoming a generalist involves implementing things with an individual that intend to have systemic effects, whereas the specialist implements things that intend to have a specific effect. Think about encouraging your clients to sleep effectively, eat more vegetables, and move effectively. Implementing these three strategies will lead to system-wide effects first and foremost, and may impact a specific goal that you have. These are the tools of a generalist On the flipside, consider a surgical procedure, medication, etc. These modalities have a higher likelihood of meeting a specific goal first and foremost, but the system-wide effect is less certain. Though upon careful reflection on this thought, really anything we implement as a generalist or specialist is riddled with uncertainty. Both types of practitioners are necessary to maximize health, longevity, and/or performance. Quote of the Month “Ego is about who’s right. Truth is about what’s right.” ~Mike Maples Jr Ego is something I’ve been working on getting

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All Gain, No Pain Book Review

For those of you who don’t know, my colleague, mentor, friend, and Daddy-O Pops Bill Hartman is about to release his upcoming book All Gain, No Pain. Though the book is targeted to those over 40 who are getting back into fitness either post-rehab or in pain, it includes an incredible amount of valuable content for just about anyone. If you want a lesson in physiology, breathing, variability, and stress, this book has it. If you want an excellent plan to get jacked, a plan that got me (not over 40 and not in pain) under 10% body fat for the first time in my life, this book has it. If you want tips, strategies, and rituals that’ll help you live a better life, this book has it. In spades in fact. Though I’m biased (I wrote the foreword and edited the book), it is one of the most comprehensive self-betterment books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I want to extend that pleasure to you. The book releases this Monday, 9/25/17, on Amazon.com. But what if I told you if you act now you could snag a free copy? Yes, I said free!!! F….R….E…E #free It might be the best free thing you ever get. If you want a free copy of this absolutely outstanding book, click the link below to be directed to Bill’s website. Sign up, and you’ll get your free copy when this great read releases.   ALL GAIN, NO PAIN   If my stamp

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D League Readiness Measures, Navigating Flare-ups, and Should I get the OCS? – Movement Debrief Episode 16

Just in case you missed last night’s Movement Debrief Episode 16, here is a copy of the video and audio for your listening pleasure. Here’s what we talked about: What readiness and performance measures I used in the NBA D League What I would’ve done differently? How to navigate a pain flare-up What are the pro’s and con’s of becoming a clinical specialist If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube. They air every Wednesday at 8:30pm CST. Enjoy.   Here were some of the links I mentioned in this Debrief. How to Design a Comprehensive Rehab Program How to Treat Pain with Sitting – A Case Study Services sign-up Here’s a signup for my newsletter to get a free acute:chronic workload calculator, basketball conditioning program, podcasts, and weekend learning goodies: [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Get learning goodies and more”] D League Readiness Measures Navigating Flare-ups Should I get the OCS?  

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How to Treat Pain with Sitting – A Case Study

Case studies are much more valuable than many give credit for. It is this type of study that can often lead to sweeping changes in how further research is conducted, often create paradigm shifts in their own right. After all, there was only one Patient H.M. One thing that I wish I saw more in case studies was the clinician’s thought process. Why did they elect to do this treatment over that, what were they thinking when they saw this? How do they tick? I was fortunate enough to have an online client of mine suggest to that I make her a case study, and it was a very rewarding experience on both fronts. My hope is that you can see how a clinician thinks first-hand, and see the challenges a clinician faces… When you can’t work with your hands.

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