Clean Run - December 2015 - 37

Economy of Your BodY

your arm, it's time to lie the weights down. Place your arms
out away from your side, with palms upward, while you take
nice deep breaths into your lungs. This exercise can do wonders for your lung capacity and even improve other aspects
of your agility performance.

I'm not sure if you've ever looked at or even thought of your
body as having an economy, but it does.Your body at any given
point has a certain amount of energy stored. Depending on
the task at hand, it either has a surplus or a deficit of energy
available to perform the given task. For example, suppose you
Balance/sYmmEtrY
are over half way through a course and no matter how hard
Let's move into another direct way functional fitness and
you are pumping those legs and arms, you just can't keep going;
agility go hand in hand. In functional fitness one of my primary
you have to stop. This is a perfect example of being at a deficit
goals is to get your body as close to symmetrical as possible.
in your body's economy. At the moment you have to stop
Another way of thinking about this is the ever so familiar
running, your mind says to your
word that is so often misused,
body that whatever energy it
"balance."
has left has to be kept available
In one of the movement patfor bodily functions that are
terns, I observe if you are able
crucial for its survival, not for
to step over a certain height
finishing an agility course. In
(determined by your bone
many cases, it's for breathing.
measurements) and I compare
The body says to itself, either
both your left and right leg's
push through this course with
performance. There are many
possible complications or just
things to look for within that
stop and ensure there is availmovement pattern comparison
able energy for breathing.You
that will allow for the approdo not want your body to
The benefit of holding dumbbells straight up is the natural settling
priate functional exercise to
be in a position where these
of the shoulders that occurs. This then allows for greater improvement
be given to you. If with one leg
choices must be made.
of posture and oxygen intake during the second position.
you were able to stable yourPosturE
self well while stepping and
with the other leg you found
Let's get into the posture of
yourself very unstable while
the agility competitor. Poor
stepping, we both now recogposture is quite often noticed
nize there is a lack of balance
visually, but its functional
within your body. That imbalimpacts on the body are endance can manifest in an agility
less! It can affect the agility
run with an unprecedented
competitor in many ways, but
fall, the inability to turn up the
I'll just mention a few. It can afspeed to catch up to your dog,
fect your lung capacity (which
or an inability to execute a
directly impacts how fast you
move like the front cross on
can move as well as affects
one side, even though you do it
how much oxygen gets to the
Symmetry is the evenness of placement of arms and hands
in relation to the body. Anatomically it also allows for very good
well on the other. This all stems
brain so you can think and
air flow or oxygen intake.
back from a lack of balance or
make good choices), your balsymmetry somewhere within
ance (which will determine the
your body. For the leg that
likelihood of falling while runseems not to stable itself so well, I may have you do kneelning a course), your ability to perform certain handler moves
ing exercises with that leg being the primary stabilizer. For
due to a restricted spinal column, and more. Now, depending
the leg that may seem very stable, due to its tightness, I may
on what's actually causing the poor posture, there is an array
have you do some mobility exercises using specific stretching
of functional exercises that will address the situation.
techniques. This starts to give you a closer look inside true
One of my personal favorites is to lie flat on your back with
functional fitness as well as how it applies to agility.
your knees bent, holding moderately sized dumbbells in both
I suggest that you start to really pay attention to how you use
hands directly stacked above your shoulders. Don't forget,
each side of your body and how different or similar they feel
this is just one of many functional approaches that helps adso that in the next article, when specific exercises are given
dress not only your posture, but how much oxygen is availand compared to specific agility movements or techniques,
able to you when it's show time. Once your shoulders feel
you'll be able to get the most out of them. D
very flat and relaxed or you feel a sense of effortlessness in
Antoine Alston, Founder of EPG™ (Exercise Prescribing Gyms) and owner of Berkshire Functional Fitness, the first and only fully functional fitness center, has developed
and facilitated wellness programs for multinational corporations, schools, hospitals, and nonprofit organizations across the United States. He is dedicated to bringing
functional fitness to the mainstream by helping one individual at a time become fully functional and live comfortably, powerfully and confidently.
December 15 | Clean Run

Clean Run - December 2015

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