Is sitting worse than smoking?
Today, we as a society sit too much. In fact, Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic says sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting.
WOW!
And yet here we are... sitting our life away.
Think of all the things we do sitting:
- We sit all day at work.
- We sit when we eat.
- Then we go to a gym and sit on a machine to push and pull things.
The root cause of most shoulder and low back injuries are a result of "Upper Crossed Syndrome." (UCS)
And ucs is more often than not from... Sitting. Crazy right?
We live our life in a "flexed" environment and spend little to no time in "extension."
This is why I love kettlebells. ALL movements put you in an "extended environment." Which stimulates the muscles responsible for your posture (remember what I said about posture? ).
So how do we eliminate "upper crossed movement viruses" so we can improve posture + positioning and by consequence unlock our ability to train as hard, as heavy, as often, and remain as healthy & fresh as possible?
The answer is the...
Upper Body Flow (UBF)
The Sequence...
- GFE
- Head Nods → head turns
- T-spine rib grab → 1/2 Egyptian → 1/2 S-movement → switch sides.
- Crab switch → table top (L/R) → table top w/ reach x 1 (L/R)
- Rocking (x5) → head nods (x5) → sweep roll x 1 (L/R)
- X-lift (x3) → creeping (x3) → crawl (x3) → push up w/ shoulder tap x 3 (L/R).
- 90˚ turn (x3) → frog hop (x3) → jump to pushup (x3).
- Cobra to push x 3
- Roof → scorpion → fall to getup sit → return to roof x 3
- Reverse GFE
DO NOT under estimate this part of the program.
Practice this flows 3 days per week for ~20 minutes (Tue, Thurs, Sat). This flow (like the others to come) will take time to commit to memory.
If you're feeling great after your first round through and you want to continue, do a second round. You can't over do this aspect of the program.
This looks daunting, but once you get it down, it goes by fast!
Be diligent, commit to your practice. Remember Strength is a Skill—a skill that MUST be practiced!
Have a great week.
hec g.