Fitness Carter

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Before you chase your fitness resolution -- Read this - Daily Camera



Sam Iannetta, left, helps Eric Warner with his lifting form. Sam Iannetta teaches "fitness longevity" at his Functional Fitness and Wellness

Sam Iannetta, left, helps Eric Warner with his lifting form. Sam Iannetta teaches "fitness longevity" at his Functional Fitness and Wellness Center in Boulder. ( Cliff Grassmick )





Buy the book

Title: "Change Agents," by Brian Tracy, featuring Boulder fitness expert Sam Iannetta, $19.22 on Amazon.com[1] . Royalties go to the nonprofit Entrepreneur's International Foundation.


Pages: 488


Published: Sept. 19 by CelebrityPress


On the web


Functional Fitness: FunctionalFitnessUsa.com[2]



Mary VonBreck blew her New Year's resolution every year for years. The Boulder woman says she set fitness goals and tried to push through the pain in her knee. But it kept getting harder. Until she could push no longer.


Today, she realizes it wasn't a question of her dedication. It was the physical reality of her body. And she's changing that reality.


VonBreck has always been active, and she says her love for skiing, windsurfing and sports ultimately took sports away from her. VonBreck is in her 40s and has already had four knee surgeries, due to a torn ACL, followed by such severe atrophy that she says some of her muscles stopped working entirely.


This New Year's, VonBreck is not resolving to run more or even strength train. She's focusing on her foundation. She's redefining her entire definition of fitness.


VonBreck is training with Boulder trainer Sam Iannetta, who's been helping people with fitness and nutrition for 34 years. He runs Sam Iannetta's Functional Fitness and Wellness Center in Boulder, and he teaches something there that goes counter to many other fitness programs.


He's not a big fan of playing sports.


In fact, he considers "sport" an acronym for "specific performance of repetitive trauma." In other words, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Which also happens to be a definition of insanity.


Iannetta's fitness philosophy, which he calls the "Fitness Longevity Paradigm," was recently featured in the Amazon best-selling book, "Change Agents: The World's Leading Experts Reveal Their Secrets for Successfully Changing the Status Quo to Help Their Clients Lead Better Lives and Run Better Businesses."


Brian Tracy, a well known author, motivational speaker and business-development expert, compiled the book and CelebrityPress released it in September.


On its release day, "Change Agents" hit best-seller status in seven different categories, including No. 2 in the Marketing for Small Business category.


As the (super long) title suggests, the book features a select group of leading business professionals noted for making new inroads in their respective fields, and finding success by changing both themselves and the world around them.


For Iannetta, that meant reinventing the fitness system, down to the way we teach kids in physical education.


He argues we don't teach physical education, and how the body works, but rather we teach sports education, with the underlying message that it's OK to sacrifice your body for your sport. Few kids learn about ankle alignment, knee function, posture, or even how to properly stand up out of a chair.


Look at the soccer field; there's always some kid icing something, he says.


"These sports are actually hurting us, yet the parents get them in it for health," Iannetta says. "It's the wrong way to think about what fitness is, yet we all do it."


At the core of Fitness Longevity: analyzing each client's unique movements and then creating exercises to promote fitness -- for life.


Being sore and pushing hard is not indicative of a good workout, Iannetta says. Just ask a farmer; he can't afford to be sore the day after a lot of physical activity.


Instead of signing up for the latest fitness trend -- whether that's throwing 3,000 Tae Bo kicks in the living room, or folding over like a turtle on a bike for three hours -- Iannetta encourages people to ask, "Is this really good for me, and can I see myself doing this 40 years from now?"


As Iannetta teaches, "It is not good enough to be in great shape right this second."


Before you set off on your New Year's resolution to ride 600 miles a week or run a marathon in 2014, Iannetta urges you to consider his six elements of safe and sustainable fitness. After all, you don't want one year's resolution to become the rest of your life's rehabilitation.


1. Alignment


What to do: Learn about your alignment when you are in motion.


Did you know? About half of back injuries that lead to a hospital visit occurred while picking up something less than the weight of a pencil.


Change this now: One simple thing to change: Don't bend at your hips and sacrifice your lower back to get down to the ground.


2. Normal joint range of motion


What to do: Instead of thinking about flexibility, strive to maintain a normal range of motion.


Did you know? There is no link to flexibility and longevity in sports and fitness.


Change this: Don't push your flexibility too far; hyper-mobility can sacrifice semblance of order in the joint structure and be dangerous. More is not better.


3. Gait


What to do: Begin paying attention to how you walk. Consider having your gait analyzed and learning ways to improve it, which can lead to increased muscle recruitment, improved circulation in your feet and a stronger calf and ankle.


Did you know? Everyone has a different gait. The government uses gait-tracking software to track risky people.


Change this: Don't slap the ground with your feet, and pay attention to your head, too.


4. Functional muscular strength


What to do: Train to incorporate strength, structural stability and proper movement.


Did you know? Poor positioning while sitting is as dangerous as a heavy squat.


Change this: Focus on your fitness -- but not to an absurd level. Keep it within the parameters of what you actually need in your life. There's no point in getting really great at something you'll never need to do, like flipping huge tires, Iannetta says.


5. Structural stability


What to do: Improve your ability to handle the "outside load." When things come at you, can you hold your ground or do you fall over?


Did you know? Iannetta believes your core begins at your feet and ends with your fingertips. Yeah, that'd be your whole body.


Change this: Change your terminology. You don't need balance. You need stability. You don't want to be able to balance on the stairs, you want to be stable while going up the stairs.


6. Eating and food


What to do: When eating, think about the three Q's, in this order: quantity (eating the right amount), quality (GMO-free, organic) and quiet (pay attention to your eating).


Did you know? Even just taking a few seconds and one deep breath before eating helps your body digest food better.


Change this: Turn off the TV and radio and taste your food. You will feel better.


Contact Staff Writer Aimee Heckel at 303-473-1359 or heckela@dailycamera.com, and on Twitter @Aimeemay.[3]



References



  1. ^ Amazon.com (www.Amazon.com)

  2. ^ FunctionalFitnessUsa.com (www.FunctionalFitnessUsa.com)

  3. ^ heckela@dailycamera.com (www.dailycamera.com)



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