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What is 40fit?

40fit supports a community of athletes age 40+ with Fitness, Community and Lifestyle resources. The goal is to support performance, lifestyle and quality of life for 40 plus athletes. By combining the resources of evidenced based science, anecdotal experience, and the community, individuals are challenged to look at aging through a refreshing perspective and reach their maximum genetic potential.

Why?

The more I trained using various methods, the more I realized there was something missing.  I noticed that even though I was significantly more fit than most of my peers, my experience in training was not the same as the “younger crowd.” The higher my fitness level became, the more I realized the value of fitness and lifestyle factors that I paid less attention to in the past. This is true for almost any athlete seeking higher levels of performance and capacity. Any inexperienced athlete can make quick and sometimes astonishing gains.

40fit programming is based on my own personal experiences as an athlete, evidenced based science and the collective experiences of the community. The programming model is a conjugate of these inputs and represents an adaptive construct to support the maximum genetic potential of each individual athlete. There is no one system that can meet the needs of all individuals, and anyone who would tell you otherwise is selling something for the purposes of selling something. The programming in the training model will constantly change and be a work in progress. We will not follow fads or training techniques just because someone else recommends them or they have become sexy. The foundation of any training should be based on what works, not what sells. I know that puts us at a significant disadvantage to spread the word, but I hope that the results of those who engage in our training will be evidence enough.

Apr 26, 2019

We've all heard them all before, so often that they stick with us even today. Fix your posture! Shoulders back! Stand up straight! Stern motherly commands reminding us of our postural deficiencies and exhorting us to repair them. This assumes poor posture is a choice, however, and that posture can be changed. Coach D explains how posture is the result of both genetics, environment, and our habits, and discusses whether poor posture is something that can -- or should -- be fixed.

 

What is good posture, anyway? Coach D explains normal, good posture as measured against a plumb line -- a vertical line that bisects the body in the frontal, sagittal, and transverse planes. From a side (transverse) view, that line should:

  1. Fall in the middle or slightly anterior of the earlobe
  2. Bisect the acromion process,
  3. Down through the middle of the elbow (the hands will be slightly forward)
  4. The spine should show a gentle double S curve from the cervical to sacral region.
  5. The plumb line should bisect the middle of the thorax down through the greater trochanter of the hip,
  6. Bisect the knee,
  7. And end at the lateral malleolus of the foot (the fibula and ankle joint).

 

Remember, though, humans are not symmetrical! Joint angles, limb lengths, and other structures vary, meaning humans will vary somewhat from the "ideal posture" spelled out above. If there are no symptoms, and movement quality is good, don't worry about it! There is no data that suggests people with perfect posture are healthier than those who don't.

 

Nevertheless, we sometimes see problems with movement quality that, although they may not present problems at lower loads (for strength training) or intensities, may cause problems as the trainee progresses. In this case, fixing postural issues -- to the extent they CAN be fixed -- becomes important. One example is an older trainee who cannot fully flex their shoulder, i.e. they cannot raise their arm high enough to get their thumb over their midline.

 

Recall from episode #41 - Why So (Up)Tight? Developing Mobility and Flexibility for Life that the mobility of a joint is a function of both structural (bony structures, ligaments, etc.) and functional (tendon and muscle attachments, elasticity of tendons) components. Barring surgery, bony structures cannot be changed. Soft tissue, on the other hand, can be made more pliable through dynamic, loaded stretching. Soft tissues become more plastic as we age, however, so there is a limit to the mobility gains of soft tissue as well.

 

Coach D recommends that, in addition to strength training (which is itself an excellent form of dynamic, loaded stretch), trainees trying to correct postural deficiencies focus on the antagonist muscle groups. For instance, a lifelong powerlifter who has only trained the bench press will likely present with forward rounded, heavily developed anterior shoulders. To correct this, she should focus on stretches and strength exercises that work the antagonists of the bench press: the lats, rear deltoids, the traps, and other shoulder flexors.

 

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