This handsome chap is Bill Fabrocini, one of the smartest and ablest physical therapists/trainers in the country. AND one of the co-authors of THINNER THIS YEAR, which we hope will be in book stores at the end of this month (you can pre-order on Amazon now).
I’m prejudiced, of course, but I have worked very very closely with Bill – mostly on THINNER – for years now, and I think he is smarter about strength training, keeping your body working right all the way out and all the other key aspects of movement than anyone I’ve ever met. He is an intuitive healer …a category of which I am normally leery, but not in his case. He has deep technical knowledge AND a mysterious feel. It doesn’t get better than that. There is a new and critically better way to strength train; Bill knows it cold. I told his story for him in THINNER and It was exciting. Take a look.
By the way, Bill and I are hard at work on a set of strength training dvds (and downloads) which we hope to have available in December… January at the latest. Gonna be terrific, we think. Chris
Thanks to your admonition, I no longer feel guilty about not doing sit-up’s. However, even the type of crunches I was doing absolutely kill my neck. I see on your DVD that Dawn seemed to be supporting her head. Back when, we were told, “Don’t pull on your neck!” Is giving one’s neck or head some support OK?
Supporting your head with your hands while performing a crunch (which we call a controlled curl up) is fine . The most important element is to keep the neck in a neutral position. This means you should not flex the neck by bringing your chin towards your chest. The space between the chin and chest remains consistent throughout the curl up sequence. The axis of motion occurs primarily in the mid back region somewhere in the general area between your shoulder blades. This is where you should flex the back from . The low back and the neck remain in a neutral position.
Lastly, it is in fact important to strengthen the neck independently by performing a series of chin tuck exercises. Think of a turtle and pull your chin straight backwards while engaging the muscles in the front of your neck and thinking about your neck elongating. Get tall as they say.
Great question,
Hope this helps.
Your new book is great. I’m on my way toward losing 15! There are several strong cautions in the book that I wanted to ask about.
“Do not do sit-ups with a twist. The twist comes from the lower back, just what you do not want.” (P.312)
“Do not bend, lift, and twist at the same time with your spine. Lots of compound motions are great; this one is disastrous. . . . Rotate with your hips.” (P.245)
Just as you are a rower, I am a canoeist/kayaker, putting in many, many hours every year. Both involve rotation while sitting; in fact, rotation is taught as the proper technique as opposed to “arm paddling.” My question is how you or Bill feel about this movement given your two cautions above. Thanks for any insights.