Improving Your Posture and Health
with Dr. Brent Brookbush
a Bent On Better session
In this week’s session of the Bent On Better podcast, where better means becoming the best you in health, fitness, and overall wellness, my guest is Dr. Brent Brookbush of the Brookbush Institute of Human Movement Science. In this episode we discuss weight loss tips and improving your posture and health.
Brent is truly Bent On Better.
Some take-away points we discuss in this episode:
1. Posture
The optimal motion as it is controlled by muscle facia, joints, and the nervous system. Over our lifetime as we start slowly moving less and less optimal. We can call that our posture falling apart. Our sedentary desk jockey lifestyles.
A great way to improve how we slow the process of decreasing our
-a good desk chair
-set your monitor
-high heel shoes
-heavy backpacks
There are a lot of little faults we make that start breaking down the quality of our human movement. But overall, our biggest mistake is to think we do not have to work at it with exercise, therapeutic exercises, or corrective exercises and somehow beat postural problems.
2. At home exercises to do to improve overall posture
Foam roll your calves: your calves have the natural propensity of being overactive and booming tight. So utilizing a quality foam roller and doing some at home self myofascial release techniques will allow you to massage and lengthen those overactive areas of your calf muscles.
-Learn how to active your gluts (your booty)
-Side stepping with a fit tube (or even some tied resistance bands) just above your knees will engage and activate your gluts, allowing you to feel the activation and strengthen that area.
-Foam roll your thoracic spine
Doing such a simple exercise as foam rolling your spine can be very beneficial to your overall posture, and can actually feel quite relaxing at times.
3. Periodization for athletes (competitive, recreational, strength, and endurance athletes)
Segmenting your workouts into 4-6 week segments/cycles so that each segmented timeframe/cycle will focus on a different training adaptation. You would most likely start and progress through the segmentations going from endurance training to hypertrophy training to maximal strength training to power (in a velocity sense). If you train in one of these areas for too long (specifically maximal strength or power) you are increasing your chances of injury in the long term.
Start with lighter weights in the 12-20 rep range, focusing primarily on controlling the weight in a 4/2/2 tempo.
Then go into the hypertrophy stage, dropping your reps to the 6-12 reps of weights that are a little heavier than what you were previously using.
After hypertrophy you will move into maximal strength with heavy weights and a rep range of 1-6.
Finally, the optional phase is to move into the power velocity stage of your training.
4. Weight loss occurs in time under tension
During stability endurance training, you’re actually burning more calories due the the overall time under tension because you’re focusing more adaptation. It is all about staying in motion.
More weight loss tips:
-Stick to larger, more compound movements (squats, rows, pushups, etc.).
-Stay away from single joint movement patterns (bicep curls, tricep extensions)
-Stay away from “toning” and “spot reduction”
–Pick large movement patterns, keep cardiovascular activity in your routine. The muscle mass you put on, the more calories you will burn in the long run.
-Find healthier, lower calorie foods, that you ENJOY. Jus look for more long-term nutritional game plans that you can enjoy, rather than a quick fix, unhealthy diet trend.
Weight loss is always achieved in a caloric deficit. Energy in must be less than energy out.
*these statements are not meant as medical help. Seek professional advice if you suffer from any of the aforementioned.
Resources mentioned on the show:
BrentBrookbush.com | Foam Roller
Fitness or Fiction: The Truth About Diet and Exercise
Dr. Brent Brookbush on YouTube
Dr. Brent Brookbush on Facebook
Have you received my two free eBooks for improving your overall wellness? If not, make sure you click the button below to download those eBook and join the Bent On Better newsletter where I share exclusive tips and insights ONLY with my subscribers.
[nz_btn text=”Yes, let’s do it!” link=”https://www.bentonbetter.com/free-ebooks/” target=”_self” icon=”” animate=”false” animation_type=”ghost” color=”orange” size=”large” shape=”rounded” type=”ghost” hover_normal=”fill” hover_ghost=”fill” el_class=”” /]
This show’s sponsor:
Audible
Click the link below to receive you two free audio books courtesy of Bent On Better and Audible. By using the link below you are helping to support the Bent On Better podcast and blog.
Because you listen to the Bent On Better podcast, Audible.com is giving you a 30 day, risk-free trial of Audible.com where you can download a wide variety of audio entertainment, information, and educational programming on the Internet. Audible sells digital audiobooks, radio and TV programs, and audio versions of magazines and newspapers. In addition to the free 30 day trial, you will receive TWO free audiobooks.
Thanks for joining me again this week, I’m glad you decided to come back. If you’re new to the blog, welcome! Visit my Start Here page to get the low down on this whole Bent On Better thing.
Have some feedback you’d like to share? Interested in a topic we covered in this session?
Leave a comment in the section below.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post (or just copy and paste the link wherever you want to share it, that would work too!).
Also, please leave an honest review for the Bent On Better podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are super helpful and extremely appreciated. They do matter and I read every single one…and to be honest, they help make all of this worth it.
If you have any questions you’d like addressed personally, feel free to email me at [email protected].
Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates, available for both iOS and Android on Stitcher!
Huge thanks again to Dr. Brent Brookbush for joining me this week for another great session. I’m excited for the next one. But until next time, remember, even though you may be content with your current situation, there is always room to be better. Now it’s time to become the best you.