The 8 Laws of Physical Health & How Our Training Programs Use These Laws

There are eight laws to physical health according to Pete Egoscue, and the Eclipse Fitness training programs are designed to support these laws.  If you are a runner, you will run faster.  If you are a cycler, you will cycle better.  If you are a swimmer, you will swim easier.   If you are an athlete, your performance will improve.  If you lack mobility, you will rediscover it.  If you need more strength, you will gain it.  If you need to lose weight, you will lose it. If you simply want to enjoy your quality of life more, then you will. Here is how...


1. Vertical Loading: Gravity is necessary for health.  In order for gravity to exert a positive and dynamic influence on the body, the skeleton must be vertically aligned in its postures.

• The Turkish Get Up teaches the body through fluid movements to vertically align.

2. Dynamic Tension: A state of constant tension exists between the front of the body and the back.  The posterior portion is responsible for the erection of the body and the anterior is responsible for the flexion, or bending forward, of the body.  Neither activity can be performed correctly and healthily without this action.

• The Swing incorporates both flexion and extension of the body through its center driving force of the hips. This allows the body to not only learn how to bend forward and stand erect properly, but it also teaches it how to move between the two states (front to back) efficiently.

3. Form & Function: Bones do what muscles tell them to do.  All skeletal motion is initiated by muscle activity.

• Not all exercise movements are created equal.  Some even go against and inhibit the natural movement patterns that we are born with.  They can train dysfunctions and then lead to injury.  Each and every exercise in the training programs we offer adhere to only movement patterns that support natural form and function.

4. Breathing: The body will not function without oxygen. So essential is this law that the body has redundant systems to ensure compliance.

• These redundant systems may ensure compliance, but do not counteract the effects that poor posture has on breathing. You've seen poor posture - shoulders and heads are pitched forward and down, eyes looking toward the ground.  This stresses the diaphragm by not allowing it to properly function and reduces the size of the lung cavity making it more difficult to fully exchange air.  The exercises  within our programs will promote natural correction of the posture - straight and tall with head erect and eyes looking straight ahead.  This allows the diaphragm and lungs to function at full capacity.  

5. Motion: All of the body's systems - digestive, circulatory, immune, and so on - are interrelated.  The common thread that binds them together is movement.  The faster the molecules of the body move, the higher the metabolic rate.  The higher the metabolic rate, the healthier the human being.  We are designed to run, jump, climb, fall, roll and skip, not just for initial development but for continued health throughout our lives.  If these activities hurt or cause pain, it is because we are violating some or all of the laws of health.

• Just like our programs support form and function, they are also designed to encourage the body to move at full range without discomfort or pain.  We also do NOT encourage stressing the body through movement to the point of exhaustion or vomiting.  Body systems are interrelated.  When exhaustion or vomiting happens, this is the body's way of telling you that you have done too much.  So much that those systems have begin to shut down. 

6. Balance: In order for the law of motion to be effective and true, the body must achieve balance, defined as muscle memory, sufficient to constantly return the body to the first law of vertical load.  For balance to occur, muscles must work in pairs and equally on the right and left sides of the body.  Being left- or right-handed hinders this balance only when we violate the laws of motion.

• The Single-leg Deadlift teaches the body how to achieve proper balance, but that is not all.  It improves hamstring flexibility and vertical stabilization. It also builds strength in your hamstrings, lower back and upper back.

7. Stimulus: The body reacts to all stimuli 24 hours a day, regardless of the conscious state of health.  Therefore, the law of motion constantly reinforces this law of stimulus.  If motion is limited, the law of stimulus becomes stressful to the body.  The body absorbs pollutants and irritants rather than deflecting them.

• Because of our overall approach and the type of exercises we use, your body will move better and more efficiently.  This in turn allows the body to react more positively to stimuli within the environment that surrounds you..

8. Renewal: The body is organic; therefore, it is in a constant state of growth or rebirth.  Muscles, bones, nerves, connective tissues, cartilage and the like are all alive.  If the body is not renewing, it is because we are violating the laws of physical health.  The more laws we violate, the faster we age and die.  

•  The fact that our training programs are based on all aspects of  The Eight Laws of Physical Health, means that the body is better able to renew itself and increase its longevity. 

Superior training is based on superior principles.  And that is what we do here.  Go ahead, impress yourself!

Halloween Workout

THE CANDY CRUSHER

  

Reverse Lunge - 6 each side

Pushups - 5

Two Hand Swing or Squat Thrusts - 30 seconds

Plank - 30 seconds

 *Repeat for 3-4 sets.  Move through each exercise with minimal rest.  Rest 1-2 minutes between sets.*

Goblet Squat - 8 or Body Weight Squat - 15

One Arm Rows - 6 each side or Pull ups - up to 3

Alternating Swing or Star Jumps - 30 seconds

Floor Bridge - 8

*Repeat for 3-4 sets.  Move through each exercise with minimal rest.  Rest 1-2 minutes between sets.*

THE CANDY DISSOLVER

With kettlebell:

Suitcase Deadlift - left, 1 minute

Suitcase Deadlift - right, 1 minute

One Arm Swing - left, 30 seconds

One Arm Swing - right, 30 seconds 

Without:  

Brisk Walk - 2 minutes

Sprint - 1 minute 

*Do this WITHOUT rest for at least 6 minutes (2 sets) and no more than 12 minutes (4 sets).  And have some spooky, but safe Halloween fun!!!

      

Quality, Not Quantity

Did you know that you can decrease the quantity of time spent working on cardio by simply changing the quality of work you do?  Did you know that you will reap more benefits with this approach?  Your cardiovascular system will function better.  Your endurance and energy level will increase.  You will become stronger.  You will burn more calories with purpose.

For cardio, the intensity of training is more important than the volume.  Interval training done at the right level of intensity for the right amount of time is most ideal.  You should train like a thoroughbred racing horse, giving it your all for a short distance followed with rest.  Not like a plow horse, moving steadily forward at the same pace for a long period of time. 

 

This cardio work should be done 2-3 times a week for an average of 15 minutes.  That's right, 15 minutes!  Don't misunderstand, I am not saying that this is the only exercise you need to do during the week because it isn't.  Resistance training is a must for reasons I won't address in this post.  

To participate you don't need a gym or equipment (except for a heart rate monitor), but you certainly can use them, too.  You can walk, jog, run, bike, swim or swing a kettlebell.  Hills and stairs are great for this type of training!  You can also do exercises like mountain climbers, star jumps, squat jumps, strides, etc.  As you can see, there are a lot of options. 

The first thing you need to do is determine what your target heart rate is for all three levels of cardiac fitness.  Subtract your age from 220.  The difference is your individual max heart rate. Now multiply your max heart rate by 60% & 70% for level one, 71% & 80% for level two and 81% & 90% for level three.  

EXAMPLE:

 220 - 32 = 188 

Level 1: 188 x .60 = 113, 188 x .70 = 132

Level 2: 188 x .71 = 134, 188 x .80 = 150

  Level 3: 188 x .81 = 152, 188 x .90 = 169  

CONCLUSION:

Level 1: heart rate between 113 - 132

Level 2: heart rate between 134 - 150

Level 3: heart rate between 152 - 169

Next, apply this information to your cardiac training program.

AEROBIC: Weeks 1, 2 & 3's focus is on level 1.

CAPACITY: Weeks 4, 5, 6, & 7's focus is on level 2 with interval training.

  

POWER: Weeks 8, 9, 10, 11's focus is on level 3 with interval training.      

For a more complete cardiac training program, select the link to PayPal below.  The cost is $9.95.  The program outlines the exact amount of time spent on intensity & rest and which level to perform them at on a week by week basis.  You will receive the full program within 24 hours of payment being received via email. 

Cardio Training Program 

The Swing

The foundation of training with kettlebells is the swing.  The swing is strength and power in motion.  "Doing the kettlebell swing alone is superior to 99% of the sophisticated stength and conditioning programs out there" says Steve Maxwell, Senior RKC and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu World Champion. 

One-arm Swing

The one-arm swing requires more muscles to be used due to the asymmetrical load.  In order to keep your  left and right sides of your body symmetrically balanced & aligned, without any forward pull from the side the bell is on, the "non-working" side actually engages more muscles and works the hardest.

Let's Get Serious Ladies

"Serious women should train hard just like serious men. You don't get a great body by messing around with ineffective exercises and light weights." - Mike Mahler

Ladies, you want to look lean and toned, right?  You aren't interested in bulking up.  You want to look like a woman, not a man.  I know how you feel.  I feel the same way.  Unfortunately, there is a common misconception out there. We've been deceived.   As women, we are told that to get our best body we need to cardio ourselves to death by jumping on a treadmill or an elliptical, and join an aerobics class. And if we do lift weights, they better be the pink Barbie ones at high reps or we're going to end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  This couldn't be further from the truth. While there is nothing wrong with these options, they are missing an imperative component with getting the results you want - heavy weight lifting.   

Lighter weights at higher repetitions is a common method that body builders use.  Why?  Because this approach causes sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (translation - flesh & fluid excessive overgrowth).  That is the "Fancy Nancy" way of saying big & bulky, soft & pointless muscle.  Now picture a body builder.  Isn't that what they look like, exactly the way you don't want to look?  What you do want is myofibrillar hypertrophy (translation - muscle fiber enlargement).  That is the "Fancy Nancy" way of saying dense, strong, functional muscle.  And the best way to achieve that while also sculpting a lean and toned body is heavy weights at low repetitions.

Science agrees.  In 2002 a study was done on two groups of women.  The first group performed resistance exercises with lighter weights (45% of their maximum ability) for 15 repetitions.  The second group performed the same exercises with heavier weights (85% of their maximum ability) for 8 repetitions.  They found that the second group of women burned more calories and had a greater increase in metabolism post exercise.

Another study was done by scientists and published in 2009.  This study followed 122 women for 6 years.  The results showed that the women who did resistance exercises three times per week with heavier weights (70% - 80% of their max ability) lost more body fat and weight.

Kettlebells are an amazing tool that enables you to get the amazing results you want!  I truly do not know of a more versatile and beneficial one, and I have tried a lot of things.  Kettlebell training offers resistance & cardio training in a handled ball of iron. When you combine the right amount of strength training with a touch of cardio done at intervals, you will literally turn your body into a fat burning machine.

Ladies, I challenge you to find out the physical strength you're made of.  And I guarantee it will be more than what you think.  You will maintain your femininity, while also being beautifully strong, toned and lean.  Go ahead, impress yourself!     

  
     

Photo Shoot by My Dad Photography :)

Thank you, Dad!!!