Brunswick Blog

Put That Strut Back Into Your Step...It's Good For Your Health!

12/26/2019

A few years ago I had a flu shot that caused a lot of pain in my shoulder. When the pain didn't go away after a few weeks my doctor referred me to a physical therapist.

I learned that the whole issue stemmed from poor posture!

And wouldn't you know that as soon as I corrected my posture through my chest, shoulders and upper back I started to notice issues in hips and as that got corrected the issues traveled down to my feet.

My time in PT was a process of correcting my posture.

This investment in my posture over several months provided an opportunity to learn more about my body. I began to take more notice of how I moved and how I felt as I moved in different ways.

From that point forward I became much more aware of how I walk.

I make a point to pay attention to how I'm walking and how my body moves when I walk my dog, Moe.

Walking my dog is a time that is quiet - I'm not running to get somewhere and distracted by a to-do list, so this has been my time when I take the opportunity to be mindful about how I'm moving.

As I walk I pay attention to how my arms swing relative to my stride, where my feet are making contact with the road and how they feel inside of my sneakers. I notice how I am using the muscles in my legs and butt to support my walk, and how I am holding my upper body - are my shoulders pulled back and strong or am I leaning forward as I propelled myself down the road?

I notice that when I pay attention to how I walk my body feels better.

During my time in PT I learned that when I walked I wasn't engaging my feet with the road with each step. Because of that I wasn't fully engaging my quadricep and glute muscles (thighs and butt) as I walked, and as a result I wasn't properly absorbing the impact of each step, and this was causing me to have lower back and hip pain after a long walk.

Under engagement of our glutes is a problem for a lot of people. This usually results from tight hip flexors, which is due to the extended time in which we tend to sitting this day and age. We sit a lot at our jobs, we sit in our cars during our commute, and we sit on our couch when we finally get some time to relax.

When our hip flexors get tight an equal and opposite response occurs to the opposing muscle, which in this case is the gluteus maximus.

Tight hip flexors = under engaged glutes = lower back pain.

So, now when I walk I pay attention to all of this. I engage my feet with the road, I flex my quads and glutes as I propel myself forward, I engage my abdominal muscles, which in turn gives me strength through my trunk and supports my posture through my shoulders. I pull my shoulder blades back and make sure my shoulders aren't kissing my ears as is often the case in this cold weather, and I hold my head high.

When I am mindful about how I walk my body feels so much better. I end my walk feeling refreshed and strong rather than sore and tired.

I've noticed something as I've become more aware of my walking stride, and I'm going to tell you what it is!

I noticed that I'm strutting as I walk!

I'm walking with confidence, with strength, with purpose.

It seems that as we get older it becomes taboo to strut as we walk. Why is this the case?  Strutting is actually good for you!

It's interesting to consider the definition of strut vs. walk.

To walk is to move on the feet by alternately setting each foot forward, with at least one foot on the ground at all times. Simple enough, right?

Now, think about what a strut is. A strut is a brace or support that will hold something in place or to strengthen it. To walk with a strut is to move while in a position of strength and support, with a proud step, and with the head erect.

When you strut while walking you are literally holding yourself with a strengthened, upright support. You are in control of your posture and you are walking with purpose and strength.

My challenge to you as we enter the new year is to pay attention to how you walk and to walk with purpose.

We know that our behavior affects how we feel.

When we walk with strength we feel strong.

When we walk with purpose we feel purposeful.

When we walk with our posture in mind we will be more aware of our posture in our other activities.

To your health...and to good posture in 2020!

Our posture impacts so much in our lives. It's worth it to invest some time in good posture. I have a free gift for you to help you gain proper posture.

Our Restore Your Core guide will help you become stronger from the inside out.

This guide will show you how to improve your posture, protect your back and neck, and gain core strength in and outside your training sessions. To download your free copy click below.

Restore your Core

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The Importance of Rotational Movements in the Gym & in Everyday Life

12/12/2019

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At Wilcox Wellness & Fitness continual improvement is our #1 core value. In the world of exercise and fitness there are constantly new ideas and approaches to make exercise even more effective and increase the benefits seen in every day life. Being part of a culture that is continually exploring new ideas and looking to improve our training techniques is incredibly satisfying and I'm so proud to be a part of it.

We use a functional training approach in our programming, with the goal of helping our clients live their best life, free of limitations, outside of the gym.

The exercises that we use in our training sessions are movements that we all use throughout our day.

For example, every time we sit down we are essentially doing a squat, and practicing squatting movements helps to ensure that we are able to sit down and stand up effortlessly, now and as we age. When we perform a deadlift we are practicing safe and effective ways to pick up heavy objects.

This time of year clients will comment on the practice that they experience in the gym and its correlation to stacking wood or shoveling snow. I always love hearing clients talk about how they are seeing the work that they do in the gym apply to their every day life!

We move our bodies in three planes of motion - Sagittal, Frontal and Transverse. The sagittal plane includes movements from front to back such as a squat, a lunge, or a bicep curl. The frontal plane refers to movements laterally or off to the side, and the transverse plane is all about rotational movements.

It's important to incorporate exercises that include movement in all three planes of movement since that's how we move in real life!

In our daily lives we move in all three ways constantly, and maintaining balance across all three planes is what allows us to move effectively in our daily life.

We move sagittally when we sit down and stand up, and when we walk or run.

You might move in the frontal plane side stepping a puddle, or any movement where your arms or legs move out to your side.

Transverse movements include rotation, and occur constantly throughout our day.

Our bodies move in the transverse plane when shoveling snow and chopping wood and also quite likely when you're moving groceries from your cart to your car, picking up your kids and moving them from one place such as the floor to another place like their chair, rotating the body to change the position. We rotate constantly....in fact, if you really pay attention you're actually moving in the transverse plane when you walk as you swing your arms and rotate through your thoracic spine....the mid back and portion of the spine that is connected to your ribs.

Transverse movements are incredibly important, and when designing training sessions it is important to create a balance of sagittal, frontal and transverse movements. This ensures that there is balance in how our muscles are being trained to move and allows us to move through our lives freely, gracefully, and with reduced chance of injury.

We are always looking for ways to incorporate transverse movements into our training sessions, and the process of exploring and practicing new exercises for this purpose is a lot of fun!

The Brunswick team recently had the opportunity to spend a day with Mike Wilcox discussing the importance of transverse movements in functional training and exploring some new exercise ideas and ways to incorporate these kinds of movements into our training sessions in fun and effective ways.

I feel fortunate to work amongst a team of people who are so committed to getting better at what we do, continually learning, growing and sharing for the benefit of our clients. The commitment from Mike & Paige Wilcox is incredible. Their wealth of knowledge is an amazing resource to me and my team as is their commitment to our clients across both locations.

Since Mike's visit to Brunswick two weeks ago the team has had a lot of fun incorporating new movements into our training programming, but even more so the approach that we are taking in coaching these movements was broadened through Mike's education. It's easy to do a skater hop and get a nice lateral (side to side) movement of the arms and legs....I will often joke that I feel like I'm a speed skater in the olympics when doing a skater hop...it's a fun and effective movement. However, when we truly coach the transverse movement of the skater hop, with focus on rotation of the spine through the movement you will experience a real difference. It changes the movement entirely and makes it far more effective at training the body to move in this fashion.

As we continue into the winter season the potential to slip on ice will only increase. Training the body to rotate more effectively, increasing our mobility of the thoracic spine, and making stronger brain-body connections in how this movement feels will help us recover more quickly when slipping and greatly reduce our chance of falling smack on our butts.

It's been a lot of fun incorporating these movements and improved coaching techniques into our training sessions. Several clients have told me how much they are enjoying moving their bodies in this way and experiencing muscles that they haven't felt in a while.

I'm excited to be part of the Wilcox Wellness & Fitness "family" and to have the opportunity to provide our clients with a fun and effective training experience that will enhance all aspects of their lives.

Photo Credit: Paige Wilcox. Thank you Paige for joining us and taking so many great photos!

How's your posture?

Our POSTURE is critically important to living a healthy life. Restore your core and become stronger from the inside out. This guide will show you how to improve your posture, protect your back and neck, and gain core strength in and outside your training sessions.

Download our FREE Restore Your Core Guide

Do you want to learn more about how we support our clients & how our programs work?

Let's chat! I'd love to learn more about you and your health & fitness goals. We are all on our own personal journey and the Wilcox team would love to support you on yours. Schedule a call so we can talk more about how we can support you and your goals.

Let's Chat!

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This Month's High Five Award Goes to Deb Kiker!

12/9/2019

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It is hard to believe that it was nearly a year ago that Deb and I began our email correspondence together. It would still be more than a month before we would be opening, but Deb had seen us on-line and was rearing to go.

She downloaded our QuickStart guide and followed every step including responding to the email prompts along the way, which offered a wonderful opportunity for Deb and I to get to know each other weeks before we’d finally connect in person.

I immediately loved Deb. Her kind and genuine demeanor came through in her writing and I could tell that she would make an incredible contribution to the Wilcox Community that I was looking to create.

Deb participated in our first week of training sessions through Training for a Cause, and joined our very first KickStart program in February. Even though Deb wasn’t officially a client until February I still consider her to be our very first client, simply because our journey began together in December, 2018.

What I love about Deb is her eagerness to share in anything learned, such as the Field Guide to Fruit Colors, which hangs on our bulletin board, a gift that Deb brought back from a Wellness conference that she attended as the Director of the Employee Wellness Program at her job.

Deb is so enthusiastic about helping others and welcoming them into our community.

When Deb isn’t focused on giving to others she heartily shares her latest achievements.

When Deb and I finally met in person for her KickStart Success Session she shared that she was looking to reconnect with people and find her tribe.

Deb had a tribe of ladies who she worked out with when she lived in Kansas, and was in search of her community here in Maine. She was looking to find her stride again and work towards moving better, gaining mobility, and fueling her body effectively by making some tweaks in her nutritional habits.

Since starting with us last February Deb has made incredible progress in her personal health & fitness journey. Earlier this summer Deb shared her excitement about her trip to Quebec where she successfully bicycled the 15.5 mile path along the banks of the St. Lawrence River, but perhaps my favorite story from Deb was the one where she shared in her achievement of cleaning her kitchen from top to bottom in just a couple of hours, a task that once took her an entire day.

The best part of this story was how she was able to climb up onto stools and counter tops to reach the highest points in her kitchen, all with the strength and confidence that she was looking for.

This is my favorite part of my job! Hearing stories like Deb’s and seeing how the efforts in the gym not only builds strength and stamina, but also the confidence to climb to the highest, most unstable points of one’s kitchen…and perhaps best of all, the creation of new friendships.

Thank you, Deb for everything that you have contributed to the Wilcox Community. I am so happy to know you and to share in your journey with you.

Join me in giving Deb a BIG HIGH FIVE!

Are you ready to trainer smarter and not just harder?
Are you ready to achieve more results in less time?
Are you ready to make health & fitness a regular part of your routine?
If you answered YES to any of these questions WE CAN HELP!

Schedule a call with us to learn more about how we work with our clients and if we're the right fit for you.

Let's Chat!

Our next KickStart Program kicks off on Saturday, February 8th!

Are you ready to get serious about your nutrition & exercise and ready to start building momentum in your routine? Check out our KickStart program!

This program is a 4 week program designed to help you build momentum in your health & fitness routine, and provide you with the direction needed to set you on the right path.
Click below to learn more about everything that this program has to offer...

Learn More About KickStart

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Put That Strut Back Into Your Step...It's Good For Your Health!

The Importance of Rotational Movements in the Gym & in Everyday Life

How's your posture?

Do you want to learn more about how we support our clients & how our programs work?

This Month's High Five Award Goes to Deb Kiker!

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