
Episode 89: Where’s Rinaldo? and 4 Scientific Secrets To Happiness
It is episode 89 and I am waiting for Rinaldo to come and fix my roof. They said he would be here at 10 am and now it is 11:30. Where's Rinaldo?
It is episode 89 and I am waiting for Rinaldo to come and fix my roof. They said he would be here at 10 am and now it is 11:30. Where's Rinaldo?
This weeks episode will be pre-empted to bring you a realistic look at the multi-level -marketing business. As a personal trainer I get these offers all the time. Everyone I talk to is making 6 figures and counting down the days until they can quit working and do this full-time. Really?
Now you would think that just getting back from my Texas vacation I would be in a bubbly happy mood. And you would be right except a couple of things that are bugging me. What better way to start the holiday season than by venting about a couple things.
Well, this was certainly an interesting episode. This is the first of the new podcasts designed to be less lengthy and more professional. Well, at least that was the goal.
Topic 1: I ticked off one of the giants in my industry when he sent a tweet talking about how great an action star Tom Cruise is. I sent back a reply that Tom Cruise is half the action star Arnold is....literally. I guess some people don't understand my sense of humor, warped as it is. It was just a joke! All kidding aside, Tom Cruise keeps himself in great shape and does a lot of his own stunts. But he still isn't Arnold. Case in point. Arnold could star in the "Mission Impossible" series without a problem. Could you see Tom Cruise playing Conan the Barbarian? A 5 foot terminator? See what I mean. But it isn't just height based. You will have to listen to find out.
Topic 2: A tip on working through shoulder pain. Did you guys know I wrote a book on shoulder pain? Just go to www.shoulderpainbook.com and see for yourself. You can get it on Amazon and Ibooks. But that isn't the point of this. Here is the theory. Actually it is more reality. Scratch that. It is the truth, just do it. When you ask people what muscles the bench press works, what do you hear? Yep, chest, arms and shoulders. The actual answer is that the bench press is a total body exercise... if you do it right.
Doing it right means tensing your upper back to stabilize the shoulder girdle. A weak, flabby upper back is a shoulder disaster waiting to happen. Beware: Technical talk. In any movement, there is always a prime mover and a stabilizer muscle working. In this case the pecs are the primary movers. The delts and triceps can be called secondary movers. The muscles opposite the prime movers will generally be the stabilizers. So in the case of the bench press, the upper back and biceps work to stabilize to weight. If the stabilizers are weak, the shoulder is going to be pushed into a sub-optimal position. That is technical talk for an injury waiting to happen.
So to encourage the back to get involved in the bench you can do an upper back exercise before you bench.
Example 1: Band Pull aparts alternating with Bench press.
Example 2: High rows alternating with bench press.
The idea here is to activate your upper back with an exercise that hits the stabilizer muscles without wearing them out. This will give you more control over the upper back area when you bench. Most people never truly work the upper back. try this and you should have less shoulder pain when you bench. Make sense?
If it doesn't, let me know. This is a great way to help fix shoulder pain.