It’s Not What You ______, It’s HOW You _______.

This week it’s truly an honor for me to have Karlton Meadows as my guest blogger. Karlton is a professional colleague and friend.

At 46, Karlton became part of the University of Tampa Track Team only to excel and become the 2016 USA Track & Field Silver Medalist!

What I can tell you for sure is that Karlton practices what he preaches! At the young age of 47, he epitomizes whole health and lives a life of work-life-balance! The best part is he is only getting started! He continues his training for the Olympics, Senior Games, Senior Olympics, Masters…this list could go on. Karlton epitomizes utmost professionalism and delivers his training and consulting with passion, purpose and personal experience. Age? It doesn’t define him…Enjoy his blog!

We will let the suspense build a little before we unpack that title :-). In the meantime let’s quickly examine our “F-Suite” and see if your motivation for exercising made the list. Whether it’s a Fad, out of Fear, for Functionality, Future Health, Fitness or Fame & Fortune; few factors will contribute more to your success than the eight BEST (Body Engineered Specialized Training) Principals. They help guide you through the design and implementation of an appropriate program to ensure that you don’t get caught in the Activity Trap. Many are busy putting their bodies through the paces but those activities do not automatically equate to success or progression towards the actualization of their goals. Unfortunately, it happens all too often that those being trained and those overseeing the training do not have adequate knowledge of the bio-mechanics of resistance training to perform the given exercises correctly. Now, let’s fill in the blanks of our title, “It’s Not What You Do, It’s HOW You Do It.”

Please allow me to share some statistics for humanity’s current reality before diving into the HOW. In 2006 Oxford University Press published “The Emerging Epidemic of Obesity in Developing Countries” in which the World Health Organization reported that 15% of Canadians were obese compared to 28% of US citizens. In 2008 Harvard reported that nearly 1.5 billion adults worldwide were overweight or obese with rates in North America specifically recording 69% of all U.S. adults and 62% of all Canadian adults contributing to that behemoth figure. In a 2016 report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation the rate of obesity in America had swelled to nearly 38% with a higher instance in women (40.4%) than men (35.0%). The annual healthcare cost for this preventable condition in America was nearly $210 billion. RWJ Foundation specifically reported that overweight and obese individuals have higher healthcare costs.

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Fitne$$ or Fatne$$ and the Cash Conundrum

This is an unlikely case of “Either/Or” AND “Both/And” because whether it’s Health & Wellness or Healthcare there is a notable flow of money accompanying each. Let’s do a comparison by looking at the revenues recorded in various 2016 IBIS World Reports for the following industries:

• $30.1 billion for Gyms and Health & Fitness Clubs
• $16.6 billion for Health & Wellness Spas
• $8.9 billion for Personal Trainers (down by 1.4 billion in 2015)
• $3.4 billion for Meal Replacement Products
• $3.2 billion for Weight Loss Services
• $25.4 million for Fitness DVD

Those figures total $62,025,400,000 (billion) which equates to 1/3 of the $210 billion in annual healthcare cost listed above.

Beyond “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.”

Now with that kind of money on the table wouldn’t you want to optimize the time and energy that you put into exercising, Yes or Yes? Well, our HOW is an innovative solution called dynamic calibration. “What is that?” and “Why is it important?” you might ask. It is the synthesis of 6 of the 8 Optimal Principals used in our BEST protocols and it is applicable to all movements performed to execute any exercise. The why is because all joints have set movement patterns and functions. A joint’s natural range of motion when unloaded with resistance is usually not the safest range when the joint is under the stress of a load. Another risk to joints occurs when movements are out of sequence during exercises involving more than one joint. To reduce and eliminate these risks, we monitor and coach every degree of each rep to maintain proper form.

Slow Sucks But It’s Safe, Efficient, Effective & Essential for Mastery

We start with controlled purposeful movements that minimizes any assistance from inertia or momentum to manage proper velocity; forcing the muscle to perform during the prescribed time of each set. Next we optimize the range, path and speed of movement to protect the articulating surfaces of the joint along with its connective tissues. The synergy of these three ensures that the trainee remains properly juxtaposed to the resistance while engaging the muscle throughout the exercise. Another equally important synergy exists in our protocol with the simultaneous implementation of isotonic, isokinetic and isometric actions. Starting with the last one, isometric contractions help stabilize the non-moving parts of the body not actively involved in the execution of the exercise being performed by the targeted muscle or muscle group. The Isokinetic actions maintains a consistent rate of movement to eliminate allowing the apparatus or resistance to accelerate or decelerate without control. The isotonic action is the typical contraction in which the weight or resistance is constant throughout the prescribed path and range of movement. This may sound slightly technical and that is true because there is a science to exercise which helps our “technicians” produce results. Simply stated we help ensure that your muscles maintain appropriate Time Under Tension to scientifically burn fat, build muscle and boost hormones. Results are not optional because have mastered capitalizing on the body’s pre-existing mechanical advantages and its attributes of muscle pairing.

Tell to Show

A couple of common examples can be easily described in the Biceps Curl or elbow flexion and the Squat or Hip and knee extension. In the case of curls, we keep every other part of the body still, especially the lower back and upper arm, while the forearm moves upward during elbow flexion. At the same time, we want the elbow to remain along side the waist and pointed towards the floor even when the forearm returns to the starting position. When performing the squat, the lower legs and ankles are to remain as fixed as possible while the knees begin to bend as the hips move back and then downward into the squatted position to perform the Hip and knee extension as you drive up extending from the hips followed by the knees. This places the greatest emphasis and stress in the glutes or buttocks and quads or front thigh while eliminating the shearing affect on the back of the knee cap; a very common cause of pain in so many people attempting to squat. Those are a couple of examples of HOW we unleash the power and science of exercise to transform your body.

Bio

Karlton Meadows MS, or Fitz Karlton, is an educated and certified fitness authority known worldwide for his results driven approach to health and well being. He showcased his 30 years of experience when he became America’s 1st and Only retired Navy veteran to make his collegiate track debut at age 45. His credentials include a Congratulatory Appreciation letter from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and endorsements from the Department of the Navy and the United States Special Operations Command. He was consistently sought for his professional acumen and invited as a delegate on three international People to People Citizen Ambassador Programs: Sports Medicine Delegation to China in 2009, Sports Medicine Delegation to India in 2010, and Exercise is Medicine Delegation to Russia in 2011. A recognized leader in his field, he was selected by Regency Publishing to coauthor America’s Top Trainers Answer Your Fitness and Nutrition Questions.

However, athleticism did not always come easy for Karlton. As a child, he required leg braces and was usually chosen last if he was picked at all when it came to neighbor sports. Eventually his fierce spirit conquered his childhood adversities and three vehicle-totaling-automobile accidents, forging him into the strong and determined man he is today. Now his illustrious talent can guide you through an unrivaled fitness experience virtually wherever you are in the World!

https://www.majesticbalance.com