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Sir Issac Newton: Movement Guy

Though this post doesn’t deal with Human Movement directly, it does touch upon a broader sense of “inertia” which loosely defined from Sir Issac Newton’s 1st Law states that “a body in motion tends to remain in motion and a body at rest tends to remain at rest, unless acted upon by an external force.”

In my case, it was my own resistance to moving beyond the status quo, my comfort, my excuses. I was staying at rest. Immobile.

And it was my fault.

Have you ever wondered what you could really and truly accomplish in only one hundred days if you focused all your energy on it?

Think about it.

The only real difference between those that are successful and those that don’t enjoy the same success is usually related to two words: “taking action”.

Adding that external force. Action.

A while back, I came across a fantastic step-by-step success blueprint created by one of the United Kingdom’s most successful personal trainers and fitness entrepreneurs, Dax Moy.

Me and Dax: He really is that much taller than me.

In my excitement I immediately invested in the same program that so many others had used to craft their own success.

I was tired of, as Dax calls it, “serial goal setting” and was finally ready for “serial goal getting“.

Note the incredible difference between the meaning of those two phrases with just one word changed!

That evening, I read through all the information and listened to all the audio. I was stoked and jazzed as I downloaded the program and was ready for my next 100 days towards success. I was going to get things done!

Then what happened?

Life.

My work schedule as a physical therapist and human movement specialist filled up and expanded, surprise medical-legal reports from years long forgotten popped up, a few personal projects with pressing deadlines “suddenly” appeared.

It was like the world conspired against me.

Inertia struck again.

Isn’t that typical?

We end up being our own roadblock to achieving our success.

With all those “immediate” obligations, I didn’t even get started on my own journey of a hundred days. I didn’t write out all the things I wanted to work towards in those few months; the trips; the financial achievements; the educational pursuits; those personal and professional goals that would lead me towards self-actualization.

Serious Goal Getting

Now that things have settled down and I have some time to truly start the habit forming, I’ve dug out the powerful message extolled by Dax and am going to start (again!) immediately.

Through this blog, which was one of the goals I had set for myself to accomplish in the past, I hope to share with you a bit of my journey and perhaps encourage you to work on your own magic 100.

This program definitely gave me the push I needed to get working with Rocco and he’s definitely been a tremendous asset in my corner. Thanks again Rocco!

If you’re interested in learning more about Dax’s incredible program of self discovery and empowerment, check it out HERE.

Set those goals. Get those goals.

Let the journey begin.

To your success.

Dev Chengkalath

With its blustery arrival “snowmaggedon” has descended upon us and in its fury, has wrought havoc upon our sidewalks and driveways complete with icy, crystalline snow flakes.

At least that’s what happening in Toronto, Canada right now. Car crashes, subway delays, gusting snow and treacherous conditions: these are the norm for today.

So what does that leave you with?

Piles and piles of snow to shovel. Usually quite wet and quite heavy.

I used to practice as a Physical Therapist in Victoria BC, out on the West coast of Canada. Each year we’d have only a couple snow days and in the two days following those two days of heavy snow, I’d see a significant spike in clients coming in to the clinic with fairly significant low back pain.

Sure enough, this phenomenon, which I’ll dub “shovel-back syndrome”, has everything to do with economy of motion.

The WRONG way of shoveling snow:

POP go the discs

• Lifting with the back
• Flexing through the back
• Twisting through the back
• Or any other method of using the back

Coupled with:

• Lifting large loads of snow with the shovel
• Throwing the snow from the end of the shovel

Have you ever wondered why it gets “harder” to learn new movements as we age?

These and many other fascinating human movement questions keep me up at night!

If you take a quick peek at the above video clip, one of the biggest reasons is demonstrated quite clearly.

Did you figure it out?

If you said:

“The baby, after every time it fails, tries again”

You’d be right.

As adults, we are afraid of trying something new and then failing. We get embarrassed. And then we quit.

Infants and children in various stages of motor control development, don’t understand failure. They will keep plugging away until they actually succeed. Quitting is not an option for them.

Do like the babies do. Go out and try something new.

Pick one new movement a week. Even something as simple as changing the hand you brush your teeth with. If you’re more adventurous try swinging a kettlebell or lifting sandbags.

If you can’t do it right, keep working on it.

Don’t be afraid to fail. Be even less afraid of succeeding.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

Well my friends, I’m asked this often at the clinic and I’ve also received a few emails all wondering the same thing:

“Should I exercise if I’m feeling sick?”

And here’s my position summarized in a few lines.

I’ve tried to add a dash of science, a pinch of experience and pound of common sense. 

Science tell us that low-moderate intensity exercise can boost immune function. So if you’re not feeling too bad, give some easy to moderate intensity exercise a go. You may even find you feel quite a bit better during the course of your training session or shortly after. 

In  my experience, with both myself and my clients, the above seems to hold true. If you have a little cold and you’re not too run down, exercise can help. I’ve also found that this works much better if the cold affects you above the neck (head cold). If you have a chest cold, I would suggest treading a little more softly. 

Here’s where the pound of common sense kicks in. If you are so sick that you can barely move or if you are hacking and coughing, or if you are definitely contagious… 

Stay home, nobody wants your germs!

 

Stay healthy and warm.

Dev Chengkalath

Since it is that time of year when we all tend to indulge a little bit more than usual, why not try indulging with gourmet healthy options instead?

Gourmet Nutrition Desserts

Healthy & Delicious

Follow the link above to get your hands on a FREE, beautifully photographed 44-page dessert cookbook.

Gourmet and healthy come together tastefully.

Dev Chengkalath