7/30 Hanging Challenge "Move"ember

Hanging is almost non-existent in the fitness realm. You can see hanging work done in Gymnastics, Rock Climbing and Parkour but little elsewhere. It is no coincidence that those disciplines showcase some of the best pullers in all sports since hanging provides an important building block for pulling.

What is hanging, actually? We define hanging as a form of suspension that includes straight arms. (that has exceptions of course)

The Hanging Challenge is simple - spend 7 min of accumulative time (not in one go but spread throughout the day) performing various types of hangs - passive/active/dynamic for a period of consecutive 30 days.

Remember: You can start this challenge at any time within the month of November. Simply count 30 days from the start date.

Benefits of Hanging work:

1. Shoulder/elbow/wrist health and the recovery of the lost 'overhead reach' range - promoting optimal range and making use of the upper body as it was designed to be used. By simply allowing gravity to 'do its thing' in the passive work or "fighting it" in the active work - one can send a very intense adaptation producing signal into one's structure. I wonder if we implement hanging work throughout our lives, from young age and into old age and without taking too large of a break what would be the results over the now lost 'overhead reach' range and shoulder injury rates.I suspect we would have little need to 'stretch our shoulders' any further. Of course shoulder integrity, elbow and wrist/hand/finger health can benefit tremendously from daily hanging as well.

2. Lead up to pulling work, climbing and more advanced patterns. Hanging sits at the base of those patterns, just like standing does for walking. A deficiency in hanging work will become evident at a certain stage - some get stuck early unable to develop even a single chin up. (very common female problem)

3. Active hang work is especially important tool in certain advanced phases and scenarios - as a plateau breaker for advanced pullers approaching the One Arm Chin Up for example.

 4. Grip Strength and Grip Endurance. If you cant grip it - you cant manipulate it/yourself. We have grown weaker all over due to the lack in physical demands in our daily lives. Grip is no different.

5. Creating 'Terminology' for future complexity. Hanging work creates awareness and a language of positions that can be later used to put together sophisticated pieces of movement in a variety of scenarios from gymnastics to parkour to tree climbing to rock climbing and more. It is a tool for improvisation and play.

All credit to Ido Portal. For exact details on the hanging challenge, please visit http://www.idoportal.com/blog/hanging

What do you do next?

1. Link to our Blog or social media sites( Twitter or Facebook) for further instructions on what to do, and more information on a range of topics.  http://www.bodiesunderconstruction.blogspot.com

2. Choose your challenge ( Choose 1, 2 or all 3 !) See original blog post on “Move”ember

3. Make a donation to the cause, https://www.justgiving.com/buc

4. Tell everyone about the challenge and encourage them to join you or at least make a donation themselves.

30/30 Squat Challenge - "Move"ember

Rules of thumb:

1. No REST days during the 30 days. You can start at anytime in November.(Just count 30 days from when you start)

2. Relaxed spine - no need to try to remain erect or with neutral spine. Its a RESTING position.

3. Width between the feet - around shoulder width apart but should be individualized and experimented with - aim for maximal depth and relaxation.

4. How much feet should be turned out or should they be facing forward? Don't let anyone sell you the idea of ONE perfect position - this should be individualized and experimented with - aim for maximal depth and relaxation.

5. Knee pain? Hip pain? stand up and move around. Resume the squat and work in small short bursts of squatting throughout the day.

6. Footwear? Best - barefoot. Second best - minimal footwear.

7. Keep your heels on the floor if possible. If impossible, try a small heel support until you gain the proper mobility to squat flat foot on the ground.

8. True sign of good squatting? When you get tired from STANDING - you squat and not vise versa! True story!

9. How deep should you squat? There is only one answer - DEEPER.

One thing that will really help is not approaching the squatting as 'Training'. I actually try to approach every movement practice with a similar approach.

Instead of scheduling a session of squatting, use my initial advise - squat EVERYWHERE - when waiting for the bus, talking on the phone, on the street, on top of a chair in a coffee shop, on the edge of a fence, etc, etc - and keep using the timer to 'kill minutes' off the 30 min mark.

This kind of a habit is superior to doing a session - from a variety of reasons:

1. It is interlaced into your lifestyle. No need to 'implement' the squat, its already being USED as a resting position.

2. It is spread throughout the day and sends a very strong adaptation inducing signal to your system - KEEP THE JOINTS OPEN AND READY TO SQUAT - AT ALL TIME.

3. It is cooler and will start some interesting conversations with people around you.

4. It is NOT normal. Since normal = Homer Simpson, you don't want to be normal - so there you go!

All credits to Ido Portal! – More info on movement culture visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/moveculture/

Happy Squating folks!

Leslie

p.s. don't forget!

1. Link to our Blog or social media sites( Twitter or Facebook) for further instructions on what to do, and more information on a range of topics. http://www.bodiesunderconstruction.blogspot.com

2. Choose your challenge ( Choose 1, 2 or all 3 !) Check our initial blog post on "Move"ember

3. Make a donation to the cause, https://www.justgiving.com/buc

4. Tell everyone about the challenges and encourage them to join you or at least make a donation themselves.

"MOVE" ember - Join our challenge and donate to a worthy cause

The month of Movember (the month formerly known as November) is upon us and Mo Bro’s and Mo Sista’s everywhere are gearing up for yet another epic opportunity to change the face of men’s health by getting conversations going and raising funds for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health issues. Movember is therefore a conversation starter and a fantastic opportunity for us to show our support and get behind a global foundation that is so committed to the cause and who strives to raise awareness for it.

I considered growing a Mo to show my support for this fantastic cause this year but was reminded by my lovely wife that my past attempts at facial hair displays have not yielded the best results. So reluctantly, I am forced to admit defeat and concur that some of us are left with Mo envy. However, I did not want to let this opportunity pass us by and instead thought of a way for us to still do something positive, get people talking and raise some money for a good cause. So our aim is to embark on a campaign to encourage a Movement Culture and with an incredible play on words, we’ll call our campaign ‘MOVE’ ember. So for those of you, who like me, are facial hair challenged or those Bro’s with permanent Mo’s wanting to help or just Mo Sista’s out there who would still like to get behind this worthy cause, join us and get moving.

I have been inspired by an amazing movement teacher called Ido Portal. He mediates a fantastic facebook group called movement culture. For more information on this amazing guy, visit www.idoportal.com . I went on a movement Internship in Berlin, this past summer. Needless to say, possibilities of movement are endless. If we take for instance Pilates, or Yoga. These are very specialist disciplines. So we encourage you to experience as many movement practices as possible. Join us as we embark on this journey.

For the Month of "MOVE"ember......

We’ll be encouraging 3 specific Movement challenges:

1.    Move for at least 20 minutes a day. Walk, run, cycle. Do a movement class. Try Pilates or Yoga or anything you like.

2.     A Hanging challenge:

The goal is to hang unsupported in a passive relaxed or active shoulder hang .Remember if your shoulders are uncomfortable. You don’t have to lift your feet off the floor. Simply just weight the shoulders. Build towards this goal over the month. A total of 7 minutes per day.

If you have had shoulder problems in the past, or currently struggling with an acute shoulder problem. Please proceed with caution.

  3.   A Squat hold Challenge:

Goal is to get to a full comfortable squat unsupported/supported. This may be challenging so for e.g. if you squat for 1min at a time, then choose to do this 30 times throughout the day. You can do this anywhere. So choose to squat instead of sitting on a chair or standing. Build towards this goal over the month. A total of 30 minutes per day.

If you have injuries, acute pain in the hips, knees or ankle then please proceed with caution.

WHY? Because we can and it’s for a great cause!!

So this "MOVE"ember....

We want to encourage people to live life dynamically and move more. Traditionally, many people spend their working lives sitting for long hours every day or getting caught up in repetitive movements, initiated through their work functions. These repetitive motions can cause muscle imbalances and joint problems. In our clinics, we have many recreational athletes who visit us due to an injury they have sustained. These recreational athletes engage in a sporting activity or frequent the gym for a few hours every week and then allows their ‘weekend warrior’ to emerge on weekends. They push their endurance and exercise levels, occasionally pushing their bodies to the limit through activities such as

triathlons, causing muscle imbalances and stress, to an already struggling body. It’s no wonder that injuries occur and are so common. It therefore stands to reason that the treatment approach to these injuries, must include the correction of those core functional activities which are the root cause of the problem, in the first place. The injury itself is just the symptom!

This month we will be blogging on a range of topics specifically focussed to assist you on your movement journey. We have an incredible resource of amazing clinicians, who will be sharing some of their knowledge and information on their specialities to guide you to a healthier balance between health and fitness, nutrition and wellbeing and keep checking for our site for new Blogs.

We further encourage you to let us know what you want to hear about. If there is any specific info you need, please note this in the comment field on our blog.

Our List of clinicians sharing info this month is as follows:

Fleur Borrelli -  Nutritional Medicine

Mary Grace Anderson – Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy

Kinga Broel-Plater – Executive and Life Coach

Stephen Kleiser – Cranio-sacral and Biodynamic Specialist

Sophie Bevan – Acupuncture

Alison Christorofou and Joseph ‘O Dwyer – Massage Therapy

Leigh-Anne Henning – Pilates

Leslie Abrahams - Physiotherapy and General movement

What do you do next?

1. Link to our Blog or social media sites( Twitter or Facebook) for instructions on what to do, and more information on a range of topics. www.bodiesunderconstruction.blogspot.com

2. Choose your challenge ( Choose 1, 2 or all 3 !)

3. Make a donation to the cause, https://www.justgiving.com/buc

4. Tell everyone about the challenge and encourage them to join you or at least make a donation themselves.

Best Wishes

Leslie Abrahams