Justin G. Walls, Certified Personal Athletic Trainer

  Do you know what you could be doing better? Here's some resources on men's health: 1. Men’s Health Network –  www.menshealthnetwork.org 2. MHN YouTube –  www.youtube.com/user/MHNMedia 3. Men’s Health Resource Center –  www.menshealthresourcecenter.com 4. Show Us Your Blue –  www.twibbon.com/Support/mens-health-awareness Here's a few great outdoor ideas for June: Out and around the DMV (DC MD VA) C&O Canal Trails  http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/park-brochures-and-site-bulletins.htm Great Falls Park VA  http://www.nps.gov/grfa/index.htm Georgetown Waterfront Park  http://www.georgetownwaterfrontpark.org/ WB&A Trail  http://www.pgparks.com/Your_Parks/Trails/Washington__Baltimore___Annapolis_htm.htm (note: the link to download the map is actually on the right)

Is Butter Better? Read On! AHA Guidelines May Not Be Based On The Best Research  New Book Casts Doubt On Years Of Common Methodology Investigative reporter Nina Teicholz has just released a book this week challenging our thoughts about how we structure our diet. In a WSJ article , Ms. Teicholz outlines her issues with AHA guidelines  that recommend less animal fat (or saturated fat) as part of ones diet. She contends that the reduction in saturated fat has led to the increased consumption of carbohydrates, which has cascaded into another entirely different set of health issues such as type 2 diabetes. Her book is available at http://www.thebigfatsurprise.com/ Here's a few other articles that support this contention From NPR:  The Full-Fat Paradox: Whole Milk May Keep Us Lean Why Milk Is The Ultimate Post Workout Food Butter Is Back Behind The Headlines: Saturated Fat and Heart Disease 'Uproven' Is Beef Bad For You? Or The Envir...

Putting the right foot forward Starting off on the wrong one can make you trip Ok, Enough with the puns. My favorite spring pastime, besides baseball, is observing the new runners out there. Yes, you have seen them too: You see, there are four really important parts to running: Posture - good spine control while running is important Cadence - how often and at what frequency you strike the ground Midfoot - too much heel is bad for your back, too much toe is prancing! Lean - proper placement of center of gravity Not everyone has the proper form for running, but believes it is an easy and economical way to lose weight. But it's not when done incorrectly. It can become a huge expense and burden on ones time to heal from running injuries. The number of injuries per 1000 people is pretty low, but the chronic injuries can reoccur  in a half to two thirds of runners reporting injuries. Runners World had a pretty comprehensive article on many of the injuries that can oc...

The Best Thing About Five Minute Workouts... ...Is That You Can Do As Many Rounds As You Want! Exercise #1 Body Saw You'll need a little bit of equipment for this, like  Glidders  or any furniture mover, or even just a towel if you are on hardwood. Start off in a solid plank position ( I discussed good form for planks in an earlier post ). Extend your forearms forward to slide backwards and tuck your hips under you so as not to squeeze your low back for balance. You abs and lats should start to become more active and you should bring your shoulder blades to the front of your body as you extend the arms to engage your lats even further. Pay particular attention to how his shoulder blades come forward to stabilize the body. Proceed through this exercise slowly for :30 seconds Exercise #2 Opposite Side Toe Touches From the plank position, raise up into a straight arm plank. Swing your left leg under your body as straight as possible until you can touch your l...

This week was the more official opening day of major league baseball, which used to not happen until April 1 for about a century. In honor of the historic opening day, I've put together a workout for those of you who play or would like to play baseball or softball. Power and Explosion instead of Endurance and Strength When thinking of baseball, the first thing that should come to mind is that everyone is just standing there and then need to jump into action! Here's a few exercises to put some spring in your step for baseball or softball Lateral Ladder Drills:  Working on lateral movements is really important because not everything in this game comes right at you. For this workout, if you have a ladder, then use it like you see in the video. If you don't have a ladder, you can still do this. Take ten lateral steps leading with your left (or until you finish the ladder) and then turn and straight sprint 15 yards. Repeat leading with your right, finishing wit...

Another Washington DC Snow Storm Have You At Home? Get in a fast leg workout before shoveling snow! You can try to do four rounds of the following: 5 Reverse Sliding Lunge on each Leg This video has them using a towel to slide the leg backwards, but you can order a set of Gliders for carpet or hardwood for about $15. 5 Pistol Squats on each Leg Starting from :45 is the tutorial on how to stand up on one leg from a chair, but feel free to go through as many p[progressions as you feel comfortable. 10 Box Squats or Squat to BOSU Dome  The box squat can be done on a bench, couch, or whatever you can find around the house. The Squat to BOSU Dome is an excellent progression that really works your abs and hip flexors more than the the box squat. You can learn more about the BOSU Balance Trainer here   Stay Warm and Stay Active! Spring Is Just around the Corner...

I usually take a "bottom-up" approach to assessment, which means that we look at the full kinetic chain from your foot's contact with the floor and then work up to the top. Today, we are just considering a painful spot that can develop on the outside of either leg near the knee. There is a tendon that runs along the outside of our legs, starting at the hip near the hip flexor muscles and runs down along the thigh right next to the knee and close to your hamstring muscle. This tendon is called Illiotobial band or IT Band for short. The IT Band is a tendon, not a muscle, so its job is to stabilize the knee either when extended or flexed, depending on trunk position. Basically understood, it keeps you stable while walking, jogging or running. theragrid.com A common source of discomfort related to inflammation of the IT Band is felt either at the hip or on the outside of the knee. One thing I have learned from professionals about IT Band rehabilitation is that there rea...

It's Not Just For Your Home Here's a few simple changes you can make starting tomorrow Thanks to the wonderful snowstorm today, I've had the opportunity to make over my blog to better serve you guys. So it got me thinking: what are a few things I could do better for you, and, more globally, what are things we could do better for ourselves as spring hopefully approaches (swiftly!) Firstly: I've added a page where you can go look at all of these products I mention on this blog. You can check it out here . This way, when I add a new workout for a BOSU or recommend a foam rolling position, you can just go look at one and then order it if you'd like. Secondly, I've simplified the layout so it's easier to find my older posts Finally, I've added an easy way to sign up via email. It was impossible to locate before. We will lose the sleek and dynamic layout in favor of functionality for now. And now- on to a few quick tips to get read...

What's Trending This Week In Fitness? Because another Polar Vortex is crushing the east coast again! Testosterone Warnings Becoming A Reality Public Advocacy Group Asks FDA For Warning About Heart Attacks here  and  here Other Hormonal Factors Could Contribute To Low Energy and Low Libido  here Concern's Raised About Testosterone Replacement Therapy  here Workout Motivations In Bad Weather Simple, At-Home Workouts In Bad Weather  here Music Is a Great Workout Buddy  here Fast Five Minute Workout!  here 15 Minute Arm Crushing Workout  here Some Winter Meal Suggestions, Get Ready For Spring 10 Winter Comfort Food Meals, Fast And Easy  here Simple Quinoa Recipes  here Mix It Up With Some Great Lentil Recipes (lots of Protein!) here

ACSM's Most Popular Fitness Trends For 2014 Which one are you going to try? One of the biggest problems with fitness is workout boredom. Therefore, we shouldn't be surprised that in the "vine" generation, we are seeing a resurgence of interval training, specifically high intensity interval training ( HIIT ). You can read the ACSM press release  for their top ten trends, which seem to follow a specific pattern: Get the workout done fast Get the best possible results for your investment Use as little or as simplistic (perhaps inexpensive) equipment as possible Have a certified professional guide your workout Workout in groups Put the "fun" in functional It shouldn't be a surprise that two of the most popular fitness trends are CrossFit and P90X, with their emphasis on basic exercises with minimal equipment. It should be noted that the "basic" exercises in CrossFit are actually quite challenging, including many Olympic style l...

There was a blog post recently that has sparked some heated debate over the past five days since it was posted. The original blog post was trying to point out that certain types of hip and femur structures will affect the squat position of each client, basically concluding that each person will feel comfortable in one foot position may not be the same as another. Apparently, his post got around to a bunch of people, including a DC Area Crossfit Coach who had nothing nice to say about poster (including saying "When you come at the king, you best not miss" a quote from the show The Wire ). The original poster responded with a short video explaining that he was not trying to disprove mobility training, but was instead trying to enlighten trainers to some potential structural differences that may affect their client's ability to go.... ahem.... where they have never gone before. I can tell you that studies have been conducted and written about in expert textbooks. One su...

Every once in a while (or for some of us, it's every weekday), we're up late and feel the need to eat something, and it's just too hard to say no. Well, fortunately, we don't always have to withhold ourselves from those late night munchies. According to a short article from  Women's Health , the expert advice is to eat something that won't spike blood sugar, make you more hungry, or be too calorie rich. Sorry Jimmy, that just won't do The best snacks are kept to about 100 calories, with no more than 15 grams of sugar, and about 3 grams of fiber. It's also good to wash it all down with a little water (flavored slightly with either lemon juice or another splash of fruit juice flavor- it helps curb the cravings). Some suggestions are: One cut up fruit in a 1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream A cup of berries in that same 1/2 cup of yogurt or sour cream 1/4 cup salsa and about 10-12 corn chips (low-sodium is better)  6-8 carrot or celery sticks with h...