Smarter Strength w/ Dr. David Skolnik, DPT

Today is Episode 15 and our guest is the Great and Powerful Zack Bartell.

Zack Bartell is the sole owner of SoCal Powerlifting, located in Irvine California. He is a retired competitive powerlifter, and also works as a business coach to fitness businesses around the country, helping them grow and scale their own operations. 

On today’s episode, Zack takes us back to when his powerlifting career was ended prematurely due to injury and puts himself back in that moment when his entire identity was ripped away from him. We talk about the how SoCal Powerlifting came to be and why he is more proud of the community he has created than any financial and material success, and we talk about how mentorship and a thirst for learning have been constants throughout his life.

LINKS

• Zack's Instagram
• SoCal Powerlifting Instagram
• SoCal Powerlifting Website
• Zack's Business Coaching

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

• Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
• The Infinite Game - Simon Sinek
• Leaders Eat Last - Simon Sinek
• The Compound Effect - Darren Hardy

REMEMBER

Sign up for the STRONGER NEWSLETTER for a Monday morning e-mail including a weekly workout, nutrition tip, motivation and exclusive sales and new product releases from Stronger In Motion!


Until next week - We wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH

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

It’s the little things we do that either moves us forward towards high achievement or pulls us backward towards the safety of low expectations.

When most stop…keep going. Risk safety for uncertain.

Let your values and principles serve as anchors during the inevitable storms that life sends your way

Mike is back with another Motivation Monday segment!

This one will help you shed the fear and mediocrity that comes with "the crowd." It might be just the spark you need break free and begin to live the life YOU want, to fulfill YOUR dreams, and to live an UNCOMMON LIFE - no longer fearing that death will come before you've truly lived.

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

Last week we began our conversation about pain and the importance of continuing to find ways to stay active and keep mobile even in the presence of pain. Today, we are going to zoom in a little bit and discuss Low Back Pain and the state of the literature as it relates to what does and does not work when it comes to exercises designed to rehabilitate chronic low back pain.

In particular, we’re talking about the findings of a literature review published in December, 2018 that looked at various common exercise paradigms used to address low back pain and how they affected pain, disability, quality of life, strength, mobility and flexibility. 

Before we dive into some details - here is the Great News: This review found that every single approach - be in Pilates, Global Postural Rehabilitation, McKenzie Exercises, etc. - every approach was effective for reducing pain, disability and improving quality of life AND the effects help up over time. These exercise-based interventions were also MORE effective than a pharmacological intervention at reducing disability and improving physiological outcomes like strength and flexibility. No single approach was clearly superior to the others given the current state of the literature.

Long story short - if you have chronic low back pain, and you seek treatment - find a practitioner who will utilize active, guided exercise as a first-line strategy for improving your pain.

To read to original research article - click here

Reminder!

If you are a coach or a trainer and YOU want to improve your ability to work with clients who have aches, pains or injuries don't sleep on Michael Mash and his Barbell Rehab Workshop - as an Essential Strength listener, you can take $25 off the price of the online version of the workshop by using the code "stronger25" - and remember, this workshop counts for continuing education credit for pretty much every major accrediting body so if you're in need of hours to maintain certifications - this is a great option!

Catch ya'll next week!

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

Today is Episode 14 and our guest is Brad Farra. Brad is a sports chiropractor and the owner of Evolution Healthcare and Fitness in Portland, Oregon. Evolution is the Premier Integrated Healthcare and Fitness Facility in the Pacific Northwest, and a unique look into what many of us in the healthcare and fitness industries becomes common place - a single facility boasting Physical Therapy, Chiropractic, Massage, Acupuncture, Naturopathic Medicine and Dietetics along with a group of experienced coaches and trainers all working in concert under a single roof, supporting one another and pushing each other to be better.

In today’s episode we talk about what Brad found, and more importantly did not find, during his first years in practice as a Chiropractor, and what ultimately lead to his decision to build Evolution and create the kind of opportunity he couldn’t find anywhere else. We talk about the state of the healthcare and fitness industries, the role of strength in rehabilitation and dive into Brad’s passion for climbing, particularly alpine ice climbing and how that has tested both his physical and mental strength and fortitude.

Links

- Evolution Healthcare and Fitness Instagram

- Barbell Rehab - use code Stronger25 at checkout for $25 off the Barbell Rehab Workshop Online Course

- Brian Grant Foundation - providing resources, education and raising awareness for People with Parkinson's Disease

- Stronger In Motion - Sign up for the STRONGER Newsletter!

And finally - your action plan - It’s really quite simple. Take stock of your job and your network. Take a second and really think about it - is it functioning at the highest level? Could your purpose be served better? Is there anything you and your network can do to move the needle? As Brad has showed all of us - just because you can’t find what you’re looking for, doesn’t mean you should stop looking for it. It means you should start looking into how you can create it yourself.

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

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

Happy Friday!

Let's talk about pain - and specifically, can you continue training when if you have pain?

Short answer to a very complex question: YES...most of the time. There are some caveats to this answer, and LOT's more to talk about moving forward but here is the biggest take home from today's episode:

If you are experiencing mild pain (At or below 4/10) you likely SHOULD continue to train with modification to ensure you aren't making your pain get WORSE during exercise. In general, our bodies heal faster when we stay active and keep moving vs. choosing complete rest.

If you are currently experiencing pain and it's impacting your training, or impacting you life - there is a team of clinical coaches at Stronger In Motion ready to help! Connect with us via our website, or via social media and let's get you moving better, with less pain, and more joy!

Tune in next week as we dive deeper into back pain and how it impacts big lifts like squats and deadlifts.

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

Hello My Friends!

This is Episode 13 of The Essential Strength Podcast and our guest is Holly Myers.

Holly is a coach and business owner based in Portland, Oregon. Along with her partner, Arryn, she owns Lift With Holly and Arryn - an online coaching business with the mission of Creating a Kinder Fitness Industry through Play, Awareness and Courage. The emphasis of their platform is coaching other coaches on how to get stronger and move more joyfully using barbells, kettlebells and other modalities. 

Much in the same was that The Essential Strength Podcast was born of a desire to illuminate the ways that people experience strength far beyond just it’s physical expression, Holly’s definition of strength goes far beyond muscles - into the realms of human potential, failure, resilience and integrity.

We talk about Holly’s own journey with strength training, and how it almost didn’t happen due to common gender stereotypes and fears, the best and most challenging aspects of building a business with your life partner, the amazing potential of online training for community building, and even have time to explore Holly’s love of cookies, ice cream, and how these things have actually worked their way into the coaching business.

Links to organizations and books mentioned in today's episode:

Charitable Causes:
1. Decolonizing Fitness
2. The Loveland Foundation
3. Action Against Hunger

Books:
1. Grit - By Angela Duckworth


In closing today - here is what I would like you to do, on behalf of myself and Holly - just practice being kind. If you want to practice a type of kindness that is fitness-specific try this - next time you’re at the gym, and you catch yourself judging someone for the way they are exercising, for their form, or whatever it is that triggers those judgmental thoughts, consider if the roles were reversed. Anyone who is making the decision to go to the gym is actively taking steps to improve their health. Today might be their first day. They might honestly have NO IDEA what they are doing. But they are DOING SOMETHING for themselves, for their future, and your judgement has no place in their journey. If you can be of help, help. If you can support them, do it. Educate. Assist. Inspire. And BE KIND.

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

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

On today’s episode of Health & Fitness Friday, we’re talking about the importance of maintaining physical activity as we age, and how COVID-19, with all it’s health risks and policies, has made it harder than ever for older adults to get the recommended amount of weekly physical activity.

To frame the situation, let’s quickly re-cap: COVID-19 becomes increasingly dangerous with pre-existing conditions, such as the types of chronic medical conditions common in older adults such as heart disease, respiratory diagnoses, and hypertension among. All of this happens at the same time as the aging process natural diminishes the effectiveness of our immune systems. All this to say - COVID-19 is more dangerous for the older members of out community whose immure systems do not respond as subtly has the younger counterparts. 

What does this mean in a practical sense? It means legitimate concerns about re-entering social spaces, increased worry about exposure risk, and an increased likelihood of self-imposed “stay home” decisions. This conversation today is not in any way, shape or form an attempt to undermine these risks, or questions anyone’s decisions about how best to manage their risk - but there is no doubt that given everything we’ve just talked about the opportunities for physical activity and exercise more greatly impacted for older folks than younger ones, and we need to talk about that if we’re going to improve this situation.

If you would like to read more about this particular topic, the risks and benefits of activity and inactivity respectively as we age, and get more information on how you can be an advocate for exercise, head over the STRONGERINMOTION.COM/Reading-list - where you’ll find a link to the article that inspired today’s podcast, as well as over 60 articles on everything from physical health to mental health, lifting, nutrition, and more!

Catch ya’ll next week! 

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

Hello friends! Welcome to another episode of The Essential Strength Podcast. After a week off that involved moving from Northern California to Phoenix, Arizona … we are back to our normally scheduled Wednesday full-length episodes and this one is particularly special to me personally because I had the chance to sit down with my brother, Steve Skolnik, to talk about the power of rhythm throughout history, and how much like strength, rhythm is ever present in our lives, and in the world all around us. 

In this episode you’ll learn about Steve’s path from a little kid who loved music classes in elementary school, the to moment he realized he wanted to be a drummer and how that moment has defined the next 20 years of his life, from performing, teaching and studying music to how he sees rhythmic structure everywhere he looks.

Here is my practical advice to real seal in the flavor of this episode - I want you to notice when you are influenced by rhythm and to appreciate how it feels. Don’t try and over think it, or seek it out. Rhythm will find you. It might be that you are tapping your foot to a song playing on the radio in the car next to you at an intersection. Or noticing that as you hum a tune in your own head, your walking cadence has fallen in line with the rhythm without any conscious effort. Notice how vocal cadence changes make clear the different emotions people are experiencing - fear, excitement, boredom - and just savor that in a time where all of us are struggling to maintain connection to the world around us, we all have this sixth sense, this rhythmic awareness that binds us, and keeps us moving together, like one big marching band.

Links:

To listen to a sampling of Steve's musical portfolio click here

To connect with Steve and learn from him - www.stevenskolnik.com

Youth Music Programs in the Portland, OR area:
1. Portland Youth Jazz Orchestra
2. Portland Youth Philharmonic

And, as promised - The history of the Fram Drum, one of the most ancient instruments on record!

Until next time, we wish you Strength and Good Health.

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

Mike McCastle recently completed an Unlikely Labor, pulling a 2.5 ton truck for 10 miles along the Dalton Highway in freezing temperatures. This labor took him into the Arctic Circle, and beyond the what the vast majority of people may consider the limits of human achievement.

But for Mike, this labor was more about relief than about the struggle. Relief from an anguished mind, struggling to come to grips with the loss of a previously planned labor, one that is a part of a series of tasks he has but one lifetime to complete, and all of which serve a purpose that has more value than a single human life.

As Mike says in this reflection on his labor, he is and always will be the author of his own story. Nothing is given, nothing is promised, and it is up to each of us to decide will be succumb or will be overcome.

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

Hello friends, and welcome to this week’s episode of the Essential Strength Podcast!  This is episode 11 and I had the pleasure of speaking this week with one of my best friends and fellow physical therapist Shai Sewell. We talked about his experiences as a physical therapist working with cancer patients, and also about what he learned from the time his mother spent battling cancer, and how her spirit and fight informed his decision to pursue this unique career and become an advocate not just for his patients, but for the professionals working to serve this population.

We cover a lot of ground during this conversation, but in the end all of us, and all of you listening, will be touched by cancer if you haven’t been already. It could be a parent, a friend, or it could be you. Cancer is indiscriminate and unpredictable. Gaining an understanding of how best to provide support for a loved one, to be an advocate, to put yourself in the best position and create the best personal health you can while you have the opportunity, there are so many valuable insights to be gained from today’s conversation and I am so grateful to have friends who are doing such incredible work.

I hope you enjoy today’s episode with Dr. Shai Sewell and gained some valuable insight what life for cancer patients and their families is really like. What kind of strength it takes not just to fight this disease, but to maintain some quality of life. The strength it takes to live each day knowing it could be the day your cancer comes back. And the strength to show up and provide support and care for your loved ones battling cancer but also to continue to care for yourself and your mental and physical health. 

Rather than give you all a list of action steps to take following today’s episode, I just want to leave you with my three biggest takeaways:

1. When you are caring for and supporting a friend or family member battling cancer, remember that they don’t want to be a burden, they want you the be there for them when they need it, and that means not being there when they don’t. You have to care for yourself too.
2. Try not to dread the mundane, every day chores in your life, because those mindless, routine tasks are often the most physically and emotionally taxing for someone with cancer or another chronic illness.
3. Don’t confuse simply being alive with truly living

Until next time - we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH

**Today's affiliate partner is Barbell Rehab - owner by Dr. Michael Mash, DPT (He was our guest on Episode 7) - has set up a special discount code just for the Essential Strength audience! Use the code "stronger25" to get $25 off the flagship barbell rehab course any time. There is no expiration date on this discount, so write it down and tuck it away for the future it you're not quite ready to invest in this continuing education course today!**

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