Smarter Strength w/ Dr. David Skolnik, DPT

Welcome to this week’s episode of The Essential Strength Podcast!

Today is Episode 20, which feels like a big one! It’s one of those nice round numbers that feels like a milestone and we’re lucky enough to have a big guest for today! We had the chance to sit down for an hour with Stefi Cohen and Ian Kaplan of Hybrid Performance Method to talk about their new book, Back In Motion.

For those who don’t know, Stefi Cohen is The Co-Owner of HYBRID Performance Method, a Doctor of Physical Therapy, 25X World Record Holding Powerlifter, author, educator, creative thinker.

Ian Kaplan is the COO of HYBRID, Doctor of Chiropractic, Coach, data science enthusiast and creator of the HYBRID Tech Stack.

We get into what makes Back In Motion a completely unique book, but to set the stage, I’ll steal the words directly from Stefi and Ian: This book is NOT about diagnosing back pain. No anatomical diagrams of the spine or sophisticated discussions of neurophysiology. It is a book with real world knowledge that will empower you to find your unique path leading back to doing the things you love.

Today’s episode is a fascinating look into the minds of two people who are LITERALLY re-writing the book on how health and fitness is developed and delivered and doing things no one has ever done before.

Links

• Back In Motion - to order your copy CLICK HERE
• Hybrid Performance Method - to learn about the business and everything they offer CLICK HERE
• To connect with Stefi on Instagram - CLICK HERE
• To connect with Ian on Instagram - CLICK HERE

Action Plan

This week's action plan is based on a specific part of today’s conversation, in which Stefi asked a difficulty, but vital question about who has responsibility for accurate knowledge - the provider or the consumer? I stand by my answer that, while both parties share responsibility, ultimately it is the provider who has more power and therefore a greater share of the responsibility. So, here is what I would like you to do - I want to you to think about or write down a couple areas of your life where you have “the power”, where you control the narrative, and I want you to really make sure that you are doing everything you can to be accurate, honest and empowering. This could be in your role as a parent, as a care provider, as a supervisor or any other part of your life. When you control the story, you have a responsibility to make sure that story is based in an accurate reality, not steeped in self-serving bias. I hope this exercise leads to some positive realizations and perhaps a sense of peace.

Until next week, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH!

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

My wife and I had COVID-19. 

Today was my first day back in the gym now that I've achieved the benchmarks for days since first symptoms, days without a fever and symptom reduction. The strangest part - I never actually tested positive, even though my wife, Rebecca, did. We made no effort to distance from each other after I developed symptoms and yet... I still tested negative... TWICE and with two different forms of testing.

And that is, in large part, what this episode is about. It's not about the symptoms we experienced, but instead it's about the difficulties we had in getting testing in the first place, the cost associated and the lack of confidence in the results. 

COVID-19 is bad enough without the entire testing system being a headache all on it's own!

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Welcome to Episode 19 of The Essential Strength Podcast with our guest this week, Maggie Dong - host of the Mind Muscle Enlightenment Podcast and someone who has a powerful message to share about expanding out definition of what it means to be healthy and fit.

On today’s episode, we talk about Maggie’s four pillars of fitness, what is means to “do the work” and how the journey is so much more important than the destination. We talk about a recent episode of Maggie’s podcast that I found super interesting, in which she speaks on how forgiveness is the first step toward building self confidence. We wrap up the conversation with Maggie explaining the current personal weakness she is working to turn into a strength, and it is a deep one that many of you may relate to.

Links

• Maggie On Instagram 
• Maggie's Podcast Website - The Mind Muscle Enlightenment Podcast
• The Mind Muscle Enlightenment Podcast on Apple Podcasts
• The Mind Muscle Enlightenment Podcast on Spotify
• Maggie's  Program - Magnetic Attractor

Review of the Month

Remember - if you listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, you are eligible to win any product of your choosing from FNX Fit - That means protein, pre-workout, CBD products, you name it, its all up for grabs! - All you have to do is click HERE and write a review telling us why you appreciate this podcast! Next winner will be announced on Wednesday, December 2nd.

Action Plan

Your action plan for the week is this - I’d like you to take 5 minutes in either the morning or the evening to do two things - one is write down something you are grateful for or excited about each day. Second, I’d love for each and every one of you listening to write down Maggie’s four pillars and fitness - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual - and write a little bit each day about how you’re doing with each of these, what your priorities are, and where you need to do “some work” as Maggie might say. And, at the end of a week, if you’re loving the process, just keep it going. After all, it’s only 5 minutes!

Until next week, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH!

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

What’s up everyone, it’s David back with this weeks episode of Health and Fitness Friday. Your bite sized podcast meant to make you a little smarter and a little stronger at the end of every week.

We’re still riding the back pain train this week, but we’re taking it BACK IN TIME.

Back Pain seems like a modern dilemma. We sit more and more for our jobs, we sit and watch Netflix at home, we sit in our cars and therefore we have back pain.

People probably didn’t have back pain before our lifestyles became sedentary, right? Actually, not right. We can look back as far as 3,000 years ago and find documented cases of back pain. Now, back in the day - meaning like, 1500 BCE - we don’t have statistics to tell us the per capita case rate of back pain or anything of that nature, but we can say that some of the most influential names in the history of science and medicine were pondering back pain, what caused it, and how to treat it, many many centuries ago.

And now, at least 3,000 years into the written history of back pain, we still don’t have a discernible cause for 95-99% of low back pain cases. Interesting enough, as is often the case, our most modern paradigm of back pain is actually beginning to resemble more closely some of the most ancient definitions, rather than what we have considered “fact” in the interim. 

A lot has changed in the last 2500 years, but we are still trying to figure out what people experience low back pain, what structures are at fault, how to address back pain effectively and create lasting results. We’ve developed advanced surgical techniques, diagnostic tools and imaging systems, and written countless thousands of articles and books on anatomy and pathology. And yet, the current wave of back pain treatment focuses less on the biomechanics structure and more on the the entire picture. The biopsychosocial model acknowledges that our strucutre, our thoughts and our environment cannot be separated, but must be considered as equal parts of a whole if we are to understand and treat pain. I don’t know about you but to me, it sounds like we’ve returned in large part to where we were 2500 years ago when Aristotle noted that pain is a “passion of the sole.”

Catch Ya’ll next week!

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Today’s guest is none other than Adrian Conway - former pro-football player, multiple time CrossFit Games Team Champion, Coach, Podcast Host and Co-Founder of FNX Fit.

On today’s episode we talk about Adrian’s athletic background, the birth of FNX and their commitment to building a supplement company grounded in transparency, quality and community, we talk about Adrian’s recent venture into podcasting - he is the host of RISE and POD with Adrian Conway - and I ask Adrian about the importance of two key themes in his life and success - HARD WORK and the power of A POSITIVE MINDSET.

Review of the Month - October Winner!

Out favorite Apple Podcast review from October was from "lupecc" - if you're reading this, please reach out either via Instagram - @essential.strength.podcast - of send an e-mail to [email protected] to claim your prize - any product of your choosing from FNX Fit!

FNX Fit Affiliate Partnership!

One of the biggest reasons we wanted to have Adrian on the show was to shine a light on FNX Fit as they have been an affiliate partner of the show since the jump, and they are a company I personally use daily, trust deeply and am committed to forming a lasting relationship with.

We have a 20% off discount for YOU from FNX Fit - all you have to do is go to www.FNXfit.com and use the code “ESSENTIAL” - that’s all caps E-S-S-E-N-T-I-A-L - at checkout for 20% of your entire order from FNX Fit!

Your Action Plan for the Week!

I want you to take a second and consider what kind of example you are setting for those around you. For your family. For your co-workers or employees, for your team, your clients, whoever it may be. Are you setting a high bar for your work ethic? What about your attitude? Are you walking the walk or just talking the talk when it comes to your health? It’ll be a quick process to audit your life, quicker then you may think - you probably already know the answers to all the questions I just posed. The hard part is if you identified any areas where the answer was “no” - no I’m not setting a good example with my attitude, no I’m not working as hard as I could - you have to do the WORK to turn that answer into a resounding YES.

Until next week, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Congratulations ! You have made it to the end of another work week and that means it’s time for Health & Fitness Friday here on The Essential Strength Podcast! This is the bight sized podcast meant to make you a little smarter as the week comes to a close!

This week we’re talking about how to take control and start undoing some of these painful connections and feedback loops that cause pain when you just think about an activity like walking, carrying groceries, etc.

I read a great analogy for neuroplasticity since our last conversation. Neuroplasticity is the phenomenon in which out brain and neural network physical changes as we go through life experiences. The analogy was this - Think of a river carving out a channel. The more water that move flows through the channel, the slicker and deeper it becomes. To that I would add, as the channel becomes deeper, the more water will pass through every minute, every hour, and every day. And if that channel is maladaptive, if it’s creating networks that do more harm to your quality of life than good, you want to get to work diverting the flow of water while it is a slow trickling stream, rather than waiting until it is a rushing river.

Specific Psychology approaches that can help with persistent or chronic pain:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Graded Exposure Therapy

Biofeedback can help bring awareness and control to processes such as breath and heart rate associated with painful or scary moments.

You can be your own pain-management ally by continuing to be physical active, eating well, sleeping enough and staying social engaged while working to reduce chronic pain.

Remember - Pain is NEVER HOPELESS, regardless of how unmanageable it may feel, pain  exists on a spectrum of "less manageable" to "more manageable" and because your brain is capable of change, so is your pain experience!

Reference Article for this episode - Pathways Health


Catch ya'll next week!

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

This is episode 17 and our guest today is Max Artsis.

Max is a coach, trainer and speaker based in Los Angeles. In his own words, Max is fortunate to train gold medal Olympians, and athletes in the NFL, MLB, WNBA, NBA, and NCAA. He spent 6 years at Nike World Headquarters, including time as the Nike Master Trainer Network Lead, was the Director of Sport Science and Education for Rokke Performance Therapy, and continually keynotes for companies/conferences globally. He is endlessly fascinated with the psychology of sport, and how the holistic picture of the human behind the athlete affects performance.

In this episode we speak about Max’s definition of strength and the importance he places on the concept of “relative strength” both in the gym and in life, and we talk at length about the concept of “staying in your lane” does more harm than good in the health and fitness industries. There is a whole lot more to this conversation but... you'll just have to listen!

More About Max

Max's Webiste - Artsis Athletics
Max on Instagram
Performix House West Hollywood

Book References

Atomic Habits - James Clear
Dare to Lead - Brene Brown
Getting Things Done - David Allen

Action Plan

Your action plan for the week this week is this - I want you to reflect on where you are in your career. How long have you been in the field? How invested are you in the pursuit of greatness within this field? And then ask - is it time to go an inch wide and a mile deep in one area of this field? Have I done the work to become a great generalist? Someone who can move from one conversation to the next and feel competent and confident about most any topic within this field? If the answer is yes, then the next step is actually fairly simple - You already know which portion of the industry you are most passionate about; it’s the one your mind wanders too, the one you already enjoy learning about and wish you had more time for. Well, the time is now - go all in and dive deep, it’s time to become a specialist!

Reminder

Write a review on Apple Podcasts to be eligible for our "Review of the Month" giveaway and your chance to win a product of your choice from FNXfit - winner will be announced on Nov. 4 during Ep. 18 of The Essential Strength Podcast. And you can always get 20% off any products from FNXfit simply by using the code "ESSENTIAL" at checkout!


Until next week - we wish you STRENGTH  and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Today we’re continuing our conversation about pain, and in particular we’re asking the question - why do we feel pain? What is the point of this unpleasant sensation and why, if it’s so important, does it seem that we all experience it differently?

Pain is, at its core, our body’s way of signaling a real or perceived threat. That threat is most commonly one that could cause damage to the physical structure of the body. We experience pain as a way of breaking the pattern and creating a sensation so acutely unpleasant that our attention is drawn almost immediately away from whatever else we may be doing to address whatever the source of the pain is. Remember, at the end of the day our brain’s only job is to keep the body alive at all costs. 

It might be useful to think of pain as the smoke detectors in your house. They go off when there is smoke in the air, and then it is your job to determine the source of that smoke and what to do about it. The smoke detector doesn’t tell you if your house is on fire or if you simply had a steak cooking on a stove that was too hot. It’s simply - sense smoke, trigger alarm. Obviously, our bodies are more complex but it can be helpful to think about this in those same terms - perceive threat, trigger pain.

I liken it to fear - we’re not born afraid, we learn to be fearful based on our experiences and from the experiences of those around us. You don’t have to get bit to be afraid of dogs. Maybe your grandma got bit when she was a little girl, and every time you were out she saw a dog, she grabbed you tight and told you to “watch out for dogs, they’ll bite.”

Tune in next week for a conversation about how we can start to re-train the brain when the alarm system has gotten way to sensitive.

Catch ya’ll next week!

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Today is episode 16 and out guest is Alex Piccirilli - one of the most effusively energetic and positive people I have the pleasure of calling a friend.

Alex is a Certified Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer and RYT-200 Yoga Teacher who recently left Portland and moved to Nashville, TN. As a coach, Alex focuses on moving with intention and integrity, building confidence through strength, and holistically increasing performance in a fun and sustainable way. She grew up playing sports and discovered her love of strength training through college athletics as a cheerleader at the University of Miami and is grateful that she can now share this love and knowledge with others for a living! 

Today’s conversation ranges from some eye opening insights into the physical challenges and discipline required to be a collegiate cheerleader this experience as a college athlete laid the foundation for Alex’s love of strength training. We talk about what lead her to becoming a certified yoga instructor and get into the nitty gritty process of planning and executing a yoga class that moves people both physically and mentally. And we spend a good chunk of time railing against the fact that women still avoid strength training for fear of getting “bulky” - which Alex thought would have died out years ago and as she so perfectly explains - No one get’s bulky by accident”.

This was a really fun conversation that I learned a TON from and I’m sure you will too.

Links

• Alex on Instagram
• Yoga with Alex via MOXY
• Alex's Website
• YoYo Yogi in Portland, OR

Check This Out!!!

Alex wrote a blog for Stronger In Motion that dives deeper into the specific ways adding a yoga practice can take your training to the NEXT LEVEL!


Your Weekly Action Plan

If you have been avoiding the gym forever due to a fear of getting “bulky” I challenge you, and Alex challenges you, to commit to 6 weeks of strength training. If you have been avoiding yoga because you think it’s too woo-woo spiritual, or you’re too flexible, or anything else - sign up for a yoga punch card at a local studio if it’s open or subscribe to a month of yoga online - preferably with Alex via Moxy, which is linked up above of course - but TRY IT. And let us know how you feel - both Alex and I love having conversations on Instagram and would love to hear from anyone who takes action on this challenge!

Until next week, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Today we’re continuing our conversation about pain, and in particular today we’re talking about how it literally changes your brain.

Because the experience of chronic pain is associated with multiple networks of the central nervous system, it is actually classified as a Central Nervous System Disorder with sensory, cognitive, emotional and behavioral elements.

Long story short, the brain is a complex and interconnected structure - in the case of pain, the areas of the brain responsible for interpreting the messages coming from other areas of the body are connected with the areas responsible for our emotions and motivation - these areas cannot be separated, which is why people often have an emotional response to pain. And chronic pain appears to change these connections. For example, several studies of people with persistent or chronic back pain have found increased functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex (one of the pain perception centers) and the areas responsible for emotion, motivation and reward-related behaviors. These areas work together to “encode” painful experiences, and over time may be partly responsible for chronic pain being associated with specifically emotion states or trouble controlling emotions as they relate to pain.

That is a lot of science - I want to come back up to the surface  and translate this into something actionable for each of you:

DON’T LET A NAGGING INJURY OR ISSUE TURN INTO A CHRONIC PAIN CONDITION!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to patients, friends or family members about a pain they’re experiencing - this is a common topic at every get together since I got my degree - and the conversation goes something like - “Oh, it’s not that bad, I’ve been dealing with this pain for a couple years now.”

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT!

I can promise you this - it’s a a helluva lot easier to fix a joint that’s not moving right than it is to undue to cascade of negative effects that chronic pain has on your brain. Your back pain isn’t isolated to your back - it’s impacting your mood, your motivation, your temper, your mental health. Why? Because your back bone is connected to your brain bone by a little thing called your nervous system - and once that nervous system get’s involved, treatment gets a whole lot more complicated.

Alright, getting off my soap box now.

If you are interested in looking at the research on this topic, this article is a good place to start:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6650904/

If you want to learn more about everything from sleep to squats and from how to strengthen your core to tips fro making your mind more resilient - check out The Reading List from Stronger In Motion

Catch ya’ll next week.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt