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.

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.

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!**

There is a health emergency in this country, and it dates back far longer than this novel Corona Virus, COVID-19. But now, it's directly effecting our citizens risk of contracting the Corona Virus, as well as their risk of hospitalization and even death.

We are a sick country, and unfortunately our system is set up to respond only after we become sick, rather then helping us find and maintain true health.

It's a band aid approach to wellness that is not just failing us, it's literally doing us harm. Think of all of our pills and diet fads are band aids for our feet, but our collective "floor" (environment) is covered in broken glass. No sooner do we put one band aid on (call it a blood pressure pill), another shard of glass cuts us open. There are not enough band aids in the world to stop our bleeding. What we need isn't another pill, it's a paradigm shift.

I hope today's episode inspires you to take control of the components of your health you have the power to impact. If you want to learn more, I've written about in on the Stronger In Motion Blog and was inspired by a similar, longer piece written by the great and powerful Dr. John Rusin, DPT for his website.

This information may scare some of you, but these are facts. Facts don't care about your feelings, because your feelings don't change the facts. For many American's, it's time to face the music - we are losing our health at rates far beyond any other developed nation. It's time to demand better of ourselves and for ourselves.

And it can start with one small step today!

I wish you luck,

David

Hello friends and welcome to Ep. 10 of The Essential Strength Podcast

Today we are talking with the one and only Chase Chewning, host of Ever Forward Radio.

We get into a lot of deep topics in this episode - from why people fear change to what happens in our own heads when we are left alone with our thoughts.

Chase and David talked about quite a few books during today's episode, In no particular order, here are the books that were mentioned:

1. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
2. Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday
3. Stillness Is The Key by Ryan Holiday
4. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
5. Everything is F*cked by Mark Manson
6. The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
7. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy (we talked about this one off air)

We'd also like to remind everyone of our new Affiliate Partner - Barbell Apparel
Makers of clothing designed with the lifter and the athlete in mind. Listeners of The Essential Strength Podcast get 10% off any purchase from Barbell Apparel when you use the code ESSENTIALSTRENGTH at checkout.

Your Homework:

First - grab a piece of paper or open the notes app on your phone. 

Write down one small change you’ve been thinking about making, and one big change you’ve been thinking about making.

Next, write down how you would feel if you made each change. Who would be there to celebrate with you? What emotions are you feeling right now as you write this down? 

Now ask yourself - now that I know how these changes make me feel, is there anything actually standing in my way other than fear? If the answer is no - well, you’ll know what to do.

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

Welcome to Health & Fitness Friday on The Essential Strength Podcast!

Today’s episode is supported by the amazing folks over at FNX Fit. FNX Fit is a Utah-based company committed to creating the highest quality nutritional supplements and training apparel to fuel your greatness. As a listener of the Essential Strength Podcast, you get 15% off of any purchase with the code ESSENTIAL at checkout!

Let's talk about PSYCHOLOGY - the everyone’s favorite subject from their personal training coursework, right? For those non-trainers and non-coaches out there - that’s what we call a JOKE. There is essentially NO training for how to handle the psychological factors at play in this job, even though physical and mental performance are inextricably linked. The longer I work as a therapist and a coach, the more I realize managing the psychological factors is absolutely VITAL to get people the results they want.

Considering the world we live in right now, most of us and our clients have had out coping strategies and resilience stretched beyond max capacity.

In a recent article for Tony Gentilcore’s blog, his wife - Dr. Lisa Lewis - wrote about resilience and positive psychology - a branch of psychology which offers evidence-based recommendations for living well, coping effectively, and thriving. There are real, measurable benefits to gratitude, meaning, optimism and health relationships - and arming yourself with that knowledge so that you can pass it long to your clients and patients will make you a more effective coach and clinician.

And in another parallel to physical fitness - mental fitness means helping our clients recognize their strengths. How often have you had to re-direct a client who just hit a small PR on a lift but quickly minimizes their achievement by telling you what they still CAN’T do? For some reason, people tend to focus on their weakness and shortcomings, rather than their strengths. As coaches and clinicians, there is exceptional power in illuminating what people do well, while still acknowledging they have room for improvement - WE ALL DO.

I personally am fascinated by this stuff, which is why I’ve enrolled in the Behavior Change Specialist course through NASM. The power that our thoughts and emotions have over our ability to achieve our goals and live a fulfilling life is something I just can’t learn enough about. And Dr. Lewis now has a course for fitness professionals as well - It is called Psych Skills for Fitness Pros, Volume 1.

The article I've referenced in this episode is also the featured article on the Stronger in Motion Reading List - I highly recommend reading the entire thing!

Whether You are a fitness professional, healthcare professional, a manager, a parent, or just someone who wants to give their own mental health a bit more TLC - the concepts of positive psychology and mental agility are worth your time and effort to learn about, I know that’s what I’ll be reading about for the next few days!

That’s it for todays edition of Health & Fitness Friday, catch ya’ll next week!

Welcome to Episode 9 of The Essential Strength Podcast!

Our guest today is Claire Zai. Claire is competitive powerlifter and holds a Masters of Science in Exercise Physiology from the University of Colorado. She currently lives in San Diego, where she works in a research lab while applying to Medical School, runs a small coaching business called BullZai Strength and contributes to group programming for Barbell Medicine.

Claire has a story that I am sure many female athletes and lifters will relate too - initially drawn to the weight room to improve performance as a team sports athlete, she received little attention or guidance in a gym full of high school football players. Add to that the institutionalized gender stereotypes demanding women train to get smaller, slimmer, and more “toned” and she was soon discouraged. 

Here are your action steps for today:

First - If you are a guy and you go to the gym, don’t be a dick. Like so many other areas of life right now, it’s important to recognize you have intrinsic privilege and not abuse it. This is not to say that you should feel any shame or guilt for the gender you were born into, but understand that your experience and HER experience, they are not the same.

Second - If you are a female and you go to the gym, and you have the intention to do more than just “tone” your muscles while wearing cute leggings, find some role models. The kind that are putting out legit information, training based on real science and evidence, and using the gym to enhance performance, not just appearance. Here are the link's to all of Claire's Role Models that she mentioned during out conversation:

• Loraine Baraki (@loraine_barbellmedicine)
• Ellie Somers (@drelliesomers)
• Stefi Cohen (@steficohen)
• Alyssa Olenick (@littlelyssfitness)

And third - if you’re ready to turn the that inspiration I know you’re feeling into action, the first step is conversation. Talk to the women in your life who have been or currently are athletes, lifters, etc. Learn more about their experiences, question your biases and be open to changing YOURSELF before you go trying to change others.

As Mark Bell would say, let’s make the world a better place to lift!

Until next time, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH

Welcome to another edition of Health & Fitness Friday. Your weekly mini-podcast covering health and fitness knowledge that will leave you a little smarter and a lot more motivated in less than 10 minutes!

The topic this week - Gym Buddies

Most people have an intrinsic sense of why it’s good to have a gym buddy or a workout partner. But what does the research say? Is there more to it than just having a friend to keep you accountable?

Researchers at the University of Aberdeen set out to answer that question, and their findings - published in 2016 - confirmed that finding an exercise companion increased the amount of exercise that people did, and that there was one key trait we should look for in our gym partners.

While simply having an exercise companion increased exercise volume, a partner who offered emotional support lead to even greater increases in exercise when compared to a companion who offered more practical support. The lead researcher, Dr. Pamela Rackow, concluded that it was most important that gym buddies support and encourage each other, even more important than whether a duo actually workout out together.

If you’re interested in reading the original article from Science Daily, or exploring the actual research paper, here is the link to Reading List at strongerinmotion.com where the article is posted.

There are other, less stringently tested benefits of having an exercise partner as well. Here are 4 reasons a gym buddy can make workouts more effective and more enjoyable, originally posted on Everyone Active
1. Friendly Competition
2. You'll Have More Fun
3. Fresh Ideas
4. Stay Motivated

Whether you’re working out with a gym buddy, going on a run with a friend, playing a game of socially distanced tennis or doing whatever you love to do to move your body - fueling your body is still a key to both performance and recovery. Luckily, in a stressful world, something like getting your daily servings of greens doesn’t have to be a point of stress with products like Rebalance Greens from FNX.

Along with having a workout buddy, feeling good and having great energy every day will ALWAYS help you get more exercise. If you want to see why I keep talking about the greens from FNX, hit the link to FNXFIT.com and use the code ESSENTIAL at checkout for 15% off your purchase of Rebalance Greens or any other product from FNX designed to fuel your greatness.

So remember: 

• Step 1 - find a gym partner, bonus points if they are emotionally supportive 
• Step 2 - enjoy all the benefits of that new workout buddy - the increased enjoyment of exercise, the friendly competition, the motivation
• Step 3 - keep hitting your nutrition goals every day with the help of your Rebalance Greens from FNX

Pretty soon, you’ll feel unstoppable.

Check ya’ll next week!

Can emotional stress increase your risk of physical injury?

That's just part of the question that today's guest, Shauna Ericksen, is attempting to answer with her PhD research. It's the type of question that could create a major shift in how coaches manage athletes, how athletes advocate for their own well being and have a ripple effect into so many other areas of sport.

Shauna Ericksen is an Athletic Trainer with a Masters Degree in Sports Conditioning and is currently pursuing her PhD at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. In her time as an Athletic Trainer, Shauna started to notice a pattern - when an athlete experienced increased life stress or mental fatigue, their risk of physical injury also increased. When she looked for evidence to support this observation, she found very little. Most research was focused on the inverse relationship - how does physical injury effect mental health? This is important to know, but if a better understanding and awareness of mental health could reduce the risk of injury, someone needed to start doing the investigative work it would require to create a solid theory!

In today's episode, Shauna and David talk about the connections between stress, mental fatigue, trauma and sports performance as it relates to injury.

They also discuss at length the profession of Athletic Training and how often it is overlooked when it shouldn't be.  Shauna provides her personal definition of strength, and talks openly about one of the weaknesses she is currently working to improve through honest self awareness.

If you are an athlete, a coach, a parent, or anyone who is intrigued by the min-body connection, this episode is for you!

To keep up with Shauna and everything she is doing, check her out on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mvmt.matters/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mvmtmatters/

Website: https://linktr.ee/mvmtmatters


Until next time,

We wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH

What is it that you love to do the most?

We're talking specifically about things that involve physical activity - gardening, cycling, adult league softball, summer hiking, etc.

Now - consider that your "Sport"

Training and thinking more like an athlete, using concepts like off season training and in season training, can be the key to unlocking better performance in any activity you love to do. Whether than means using the winter to get your grip stronger and your low back stronger for those house of gardening you know are coming as soon as the weather warms up, or improving your single leg strength and endurance to power up the hills on your favorite bike ride - you don't have to play a traditional sport to train like an athlete!

That's what today's episode is all about, and if you just open you mind a little bit and try the exercise of considering your chosen activity as a sport that you can train for - you may find that one winter of strength training leads to feeling better on you bike than you have in years, or hours of time in your garden no longer leaves your back stiff and aching for days.

Remember - whatever you do in training, the result is always only as good as your recovery. Nutrition, particularly getting enough greens, is a big part of effective recovery. Today's episode is supported by FNX Fit - maker of Rebalance Greens, my absolute favorite greens supplement and a part of my every day routine.

When you visit FNX Fit and use code ESSENTIAL at checkout, you will get 15% off any purchase! I highly recommend trying the Rebalance Greens in the Unicorn Punch flavor - absolutely delicious and and incredibly convenient way of supporting your nutritional and recovery needs.

Hope you all feel inspired to think and train a bit more like an athlete after today's episode!

Catch ya'll next week.

David