What
We Do | What You'll Improve
| How We Do It | Scientifically
Tested | Student Comments
| Fix Pain Summaries |
Fitness Fixer™
| Gifts and Books
What We Do:
We use weights, bands,
body weight, and your brain in dynamic functional movements from simple
to challenging to learn to:
- Use your body
and muscles the way they actually work in real life - Functional Exercise.
- Retrain good bending
using healthy lunge and squat for daily activities.
- Retrain healthful
knee and leg positioning and movement mechanics, and increase stability
and balance, for real life activities
- Use body and leg
muscles instead of stressing back, hip, knee, and ankle joints
- Retrain positioning
of lower back, shoulder and neck for healthful reaching overhead, for
real life activities, while increasing strength and endurance
- Use abdominal and
core muscles the way they actually work in real life while standing
& exercising instead of stressing low back joints - functional movement
- Prevent pain and
injury
- Evaluate body mechanics
and habits
- Burn more calories
for real life activities
- Learn healthy fun
functional movement patterns to use for all daily activity, not just
"a workout."
- Can be learned
in a group exercise class format with (or without music) and without
a group or music, as a personal training format, in individual retraining
knowledge and skill sets.
You will learn
how to improve:
- Muscular strength,
endurance, and good movement habits for your entire body and brain too.
- Joint range of
motion and flexibility and how to apply them doing things you ordinarily
do
- Posture, confidence,
and appearance
- Overall conditioning
the way you need for real life - functional conditioning.
How We Do
It:
-
Brief introduction from the feet up in healthy body mechanics - using
Bookspan Basics - to understand and
learn neutral ankle and healthy arches, healthy knee placement without
swaying inward or outward, neutral spine without overarching during standing,
bending, and reaching. Healthy shoulder placement also reviewed for the
overhead weight lifts used in this class.
-
Brief,
fun practice in each new healthy positioning during movement - walking,
squatting, lunging, reaching, stepping up and down.
-
If
conducted in a group exercise format, music starts: fun energetic,
upbeat, rhythmic music. Latin works well.
-
To
the music beat, begin practicing each skill, continuing for a large number
to get practice at the same time as exercise while stating the function.
For example, in neutral spine lunge position, begin lunges down and up
without moving or changing foot position. With each bend downward, repeat
out loud the function being practiced - this is how to bend to make the
bed, to pick up laundry, to pick up the baby (or pet), retrieve your shoes,
start the chain saw, get the paper... Good upright torso in neutral spine
during each downward and upward portion of the lunge. Repeat with half
squats using Bookspan Basics body mechanics.
Continue many times to the music, while stating out loud the daily functions
using this motion, as above.
-
Instructor
asks the class to pick up their hand weights. Notice if students return
to bad bending. Remind them and let them see that they may have just
done 100 squats and lunges to practice healthy bending, but many probably
bent over in unhealthful position to get their weights. Teach them
that this is real function for all bending in real life. Have them
start over and pick up their weights right - heels down, knees, back,
upright torso if using the half squat, and if then again practicing
the lunge where front knee does not slide forward during the lowering.
Torso more upright than bent over, no strain.
-
Repeat
good lunges holding hand weights - repeating out loud the real life
function they are simulating--carrying packages up stairs, carrying
baby and bags. Make sure they do not increase lower back arch to offset
the weight. Explain that they do not need to lean back to balance
the weight, that their abdominal muscles can do that, holding them
straight. Explain it may be human nature to make it easier, but illuminate
them that means to do less work, meaning burn less calories. They
go to a gym in order to use the fewest calories possible? Then repeat
the same with good half squats.
-
Repeat
good lunges lifting hand weights overhead. Bend down in healthy manner,
then lift weights up while rising. Repeat out loud the real life function
they are practicing - putting away laundry, lifting baby, putting
boxes on shelves, putting away groceries...Then repeat the same with
good half squats.
-
Instructor
asks the class to put their hand weights back down on the floor. Notice
if they return to bad bending. Remind them and let them see that they
may have just done 100 squats and lunges to practice healthy bending,
but many probably bent over wrong to put down their weights. Teach
them that this is real function for all bending in real life.
- Next - good lunges
to lower to pick up hand weights from the floor, rise to lift them overhead,
then bend in healthy manner to put them back on the floor. Repeat out
loud the real life function they are practicing - putting away laundry,
lifting baby, putting boxes on shelves, putting away groceries... Repeat
the same with good lower squats - enough to place and retrieve objects
from the floor - keeping heels down touching the floor.
- Repeat the above
bending in lunge (then the repeat is with half squat) but then rising
to lift the weights on one leg. Pay attention on kneecap position of
the standing leg - teach and understand to keep it facing straight ahead,
the same as the standing foot. Notice if the person allows the upper
leg to rotate inward. Teach them how to use thigh muscles to support
in healthy alignment.
-
Vertical
Jumps and side/lateral stepping and jumping are trained, according
to Bookspan
Basics. Bands are used as in The Ab Revolution™, while standing
on one foot for increased lower body stability and balance training.
Step benches can be used for training ascending and descending stairs.
Conventional step classes forbid stepping down forward from the front
of the bench, citing knee danger, Yet you need forward stepping down
for normal daily life from stairs to curbs to getting out of vehicles.
Slowly, intelligently, repeat retraining drills, first without then
with hand weights, graduating the skill to lunge, rise from lunge
to rise to the step on one leg, step forward and down to the lunge
on other side. Repeat switching starting leg, and so on.
-
The
class has many more fun and functional exercises from easy to strenuous,
with many fun innovations using bands and personal daily objects like
bags, gardening and home chore tools. Come to a class to learn this
breakthrough in having a real life that builds in your movement, health,
and fitness - directly with Dr. Bookspan, the scientist who developed
it. See the CLASS page.
- Can be learned
as individual movement corrections without a class or group, and without
music, as a personal training format.
This is not an ordinary exercise class. Be prepared
to exercise your brain:
-
Arrive before class to get your equipment, using good bending
and lifting mechanics. Are you taking this class to improve
lower body strength and function, and then bend wrong so that
you don't use your legs? Think. Smile.
Be
ready to begin on-time.
- Eat enough before class, and drink water to have energy
to work
- Bring water and needed items, for example, asthma inhalers
- No chewing gum
-
We warm up first before stretching.
- Advise Dr. Bookspan of medical conditions so you can suit
the class to your needs
- If you feel sick, don't leave the room without notice
- Enjoy class. Ask questions. Contribute your perspective.
Smile
|
Scientifically
Tested:
The
rate of poor outcome in standard knee, ankle, and hip pain treatment showed
me that we needed more effective methods - people weren't getting better enough
and still had pain after much time and money on treatments. I wanted to find
out why, and what would work better instead. I found that posture, biomechanics,
and ergonomics, known related to lower limb pain, are not well addressed by
conventional strengthening and knee rehab programs (often not addressed at
all). I applied sports medicine and healthy joint placement techniques to
daily life, recreation, and exercise where people need them most. My patients
got better. I tracked results carefully. I got good results with knee, ankle,
and hip pain reduction. Not a lot of my work is published in journals. I am
busy trying to get work done and don't present or publish all (or even much
of ) my work (Publish?? I'm trying to accomplish something here!) For
the many who have been asking, I put the results of my studies of my patients
with knee pain here:
-
In
formal research over eleven years, I studied six hundred and nine male
and female participants age 18 - 81 with chronic knee pain. One third
of the total learned this Lower Body method consisting of functional lower
body retraining of activities of daily living (ADL) and recreational activity.
Another third went for conventional physical therapy and strengthening.
The final third served as control without intervention. Lower body participants
attended six one hour classes. All participants were were assessed at
six-weeks, six months, 12 months, and 2 years post. Results showed knee
pain was significantly reduced in the Lower Body Revolution (tm) group
(P<.0001 both male and female) over both the PT and control groups
at each measurement stage and for years in follow up. Number of participants
with increase or no change in knee pain was significantly higher in the
conventional PT and control groups over the Lower Body training group
(P<.0001) at each measurement stage. In research, the term "significant"
only means "different from chance." It does not mean large.
My results were different from chance and repeatable, meaning patients
got consistent improvements. The good news is that the difference of using
this functional method was large too. Many more patients got better and
stayed better longer, by a large margin.
-
Study
publication (abstract only): Comparison of Functional Lower Body Retraining
and Conventional Strengthening in Knee Pain Resolution. Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise, Volume 43:5 Supplement 2011.
-
Study
presented at the 58th Annual Meeting and 2nd World Congress on Exercise
is Medicine of the American College of Sports Medicine at the Colorado
Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, May 31 - June 4, 2011.
Studies of functional
methods to stop back pain that occurs during long standing, walking,
running, and exercise are found on the Ab
Revolution (tm) Syllabus page.
What
Students Say:
The
course exceeded my expectations.
Dr. B. showed everyday actions to strengthen,
to improve posture, and relieve lower body pain.
Gotta love Dr. B's commitment to helping people gain health.
- Alfred J. Baginski, Chemical engineer, EPA team advisor
I
like class because of application of moves/exercises to everyday activities.
There is emphasis on how all the parts of the body work together.
- Julia Chapman, Attorney
I
learned a lot of new things that I can do all the time - very useful.
I'm already showing other people the things I learned. I want to come to
other classes.
- Masako Akiyama
The
class is fun and you learn about your body and how it works. I plan on taking
more classes.
- David Stockett
My life will be better - I won't be doing harmful/ non-beneficial exercises.
The class is different from ordinary exercise classes because it teaches
body mechanics to use muscles and body correctly.
The class helped me figure out how not to hurt joints.
- Karen Sharrar, M.D.
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