The eZone, Issue #005 – How to stay in shape when not training

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The eZone, Issue #005 – How to stay in shape when not training
June 06, 2006

The eZone: Issue #005 June 2006

Welcome to issue No 5. I apologise if it is a little later than usual but I have just spent a few wonderful days camping in the Derbyshire Peak District here in the UK with my two children. Great place – well worth a visit.

This month we will look at a factor that is hugely influential in your training, and that is…. when you are not training!

In this issue

1. Sports personality: Thierry Henry

2. Get fit whilst sitting at your desk!

3. This month’s fitness myth – Good posture is essential for performance

4. What’s on the web? Alexander Technique

5. June’s special offer – early bird discount

1. Thierry Henry

With the football World Cup kicking off this month we shall look at one of the games finest strikers – Thierry Henry (Arsenal FC and France). One thing that always impresses me about Henry is his poise and composure on the pitch. He has the ability to make the difficult look easy and appears to have more time to think before he acts. This is a skill often overlooked by coaches and trainers who tend to focus on fitness and technical ability, yet, one attribute all top sports people have is being able to think before they act – they are in The Zone.

Regular readers of the eZone will know this is one of my interests – hence the name. Henry invariably has the look of a player in The Zone and has the knack of scoring goals from seemingly impossible positions. He can do this because he can see things others can’t and read the game ahead of his opponents.

One criticism of Henry is his inability to reproduce the form he displays at Arsenal for his national team France. Some suggest that his domestic team manager Arsene Wenger knows how to get the best out of him, whilst others say he cannot perform at the top level. I shall watch the World Cup with interest and not only for Henry. Perhaps the next greatest player is in the wings waiting to prove themselves. Look out for how the best players think and move on the pitch and you will see poise in action. Another sign of a great athlete is how they behave off the pitch away from their sport. Again, with very few exceptions, Henry always appears in control and ‘on the ball’.

For a great picture of the man himself see Thierry Henry in action

For more information on The Zone click here

2. Get fit whilst sitting at your desk

Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to do exercises sitting in front of your PC, but how you sit at your desk, drive your car, stand at the station and relax at home will have an impact on your fitness. When you get changed into your sports kit you do not miraculously get a different body. The one you ‘wear’ all day is the one you take into your sport or fitness routine.

If you sit slumped at your desk, or tighten your lower back whilst standing, you will be conditioning these muscles in a way that will not help you when you train. Even if you train for two hours a day that is still only around 12% of your waking hours. What about the other 78% of your time – what are you doing to your body then? I am not suggesting you ‘train’ all day, instead I ask you just to be aware of what you are doing and how you are doing it.

You are probably well aware of the saying ‘practise makes perfect’ – this isn’t quite true. It is more accurate to say ‘practise makes permanent, not necessarily perfect!’. So if you sit slumped at your desk, or worse still, try to sit up straight, you are conditioning your muscles to be used poorly and pull your body out of shape. So do try to maintain awareness of yourself when away from your training and your body will thank you for it.

I have written a short guide on how to sit comfortably at your PC. If you visit Computer Posture you will see a link at the bottom of the page to get your FREE copy.

3. Fitness myth of the month:
A good posture is essential for performance.

Posture became big again in sport around 10 years ago. If a sports person was suffering from recurring injuries or poor performance they would be whisked off for a postural assessment or gait analysis. Any defects in their posture would be noted and corrective exercises handed out to the poor unsuspecting athlete.

It’s all sound very scientific and impressive. However, there is just one small problem – it doesn’t work! In fact it’s not very scientific at all because the body doesn’t work like that. If a muscle is weak it is only doing what its owner is telling it to do, or not to do in this case. Here’s an example of this type of thinking.

I was asked to look at the cricket players of a first class county in England by the coach who was concerned about the high level of injuries they were sustaining. He had previously been advised by a fitness coach that his players were having problems because they had weak core muscles and consequently poor posture. They were all put on an extensive program to strengthen their core, improve posture and be in better shape to play cricket. Guess what? The injuries got more frequent!

This approach puts the cart before the horse. Yes, you can prove that top athletes that avoid injury and consistently perform well do generally have good posture. But they have good posture because they have good movement, use their body well and maintain poise. Trying to alter your shape to look like them will not suddenly make you a better player. In the case of the cricket team I asked the fitness coach this question, ‘If he felt that cricketers needed a strong core for the sport, then why hadn’t the players (some had been playing for 15 years or more) already got it?’ Either, he was wrong and they didn’t need this core strength or the players weren’t playing cricket properly, that is, their technique was poor. Whatever the answer the corrective exercises were not going to resolve it. Sadly, the fitness coach could only see the players as muscles and bone and not as a whole ‘organism’. When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem resembles a nail!

If you would like to read more on this subject please click Posture Exercises

4. What's on the web?

I may be slightly biased but I firmly believe that the best way to improve your posture is by learning The Alexander Technique. After a few lessons you will come to realise that it is actually pointless to improve your posture by trying! This is because when you try you rely on what you think is right. A good example is watching someone try to stand up straight and see how they do anything BUT stand up straight, They invariably tighten and shorten their back, thrust the head back and chest forward. The truth is if we knew how to stand and sit properly we would already be doing it!

To find out more about this remarkable, misunderstood and undervalued technique you can visit Robert Rickover’s informative site at www.alexandertechnique.com

Another very useful source of information is the UK teaching society’s website at www.stat.org.uk

Both sites can help point you to a teacher in your area.

5. June’s special offer – early bird discount

Lately I have been working with an exercise ball with my clients. I appreciate that these are usually associated with developing core muscles and you will know what I think about those! No, I’ve been using this incredible simple piece of equipment to give people a sense of ‘being in the moment’ and what we call in the Alexander world, ‘non-doing’. Rather than adopt positions on the ball that look more at home in the Karma Sutra, I believe we are missing a trick with the ball.

My short program will be released at the end of June 2006. I am offering an early bird discount of 30% off the program cost ($12.95) to anyone who expresses an interest before that date (no obligation).

Details at Exercise Ball Routines

** STOP PRESS ** Special Announcement!
I am pleased to announce that my forthcoming book, ‘Zone Mind, Zone Body’ will be published later this summer. I have spent the last 10 years investigating the fascinating subject of The Zone from both a theoretical and practical angle. This book is the result of my findings and looks in depth at what is happening when we enter The Zone, and more importantly, how do we increase our chances of getting there. More information will follow shortly. As a valued reader of the eZone you will be entitled to a discounted, advanced copy - signed if you wish ;0)

May’s Competition
Congratulations to the winner of last months competition – Bartolo from Spain. Bartolo received a copy of The Zone Fitness Program. The two runners up were Karen (Australia) and Pete (UK).