Workout: Whole Body
This week, we are working the whole body. Notice how much we involve our abdominals when we do compound exercises like lunge to curl, ball slams, and deadlifts. We also use them to do brains, of course. If we want to make sure to use them on the bench press and flies, we can do those exercises on the ball instead of the bench. Keep in mind that when we add instability like that, we may want to choose slightly lighter weights. Four rounds.
1 minute cardio lunge to curl 20 ball slams 20 bench press 20 deadlift 20 flies 20 brains 10
Book Review
Anatomy Trains by Thomas W. Myers is directed at “manual and movement therapists,” but has plenty to offer other readers as well. It focuses on what Myers describes as myofascial meridians that run from place to place throughout the body, a shift in focus from seeing muscles and their connecting tissues in isolation, or “Though some preliminary dissective evidence is presented in this edition, it is too early in the research process to claim an objective reality for these lines… the… concept is presented merely as a potentially useful alternative map, a systems view…” (p.2)
The philosophy, then, of the book is more holistic and less reductionist. It asserts, like the old song, that the knee bone is connected to the shin bone, but as part of an interconnected web of tissue in which dysfunction at one point may show up somewhere else along the line. (I admit, that version would be harder to sing.)
If nothing else, the book has great illustrations, including photographs from dissections, clear drawings, and “case study” samples. It is fascinating for anyone who wants to know what’s going on under the skin.
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