Benji Williford

Pink Ribbons and Strong Women

October 18, 2016 By Benji Williford 4 Comments

exercise to help beat cancer

All too often, a person’s mindset toward training can be superficial. Most people who work out are focused on improving their physical appearance, or achieving a personal accomplishment.

So what happens when this mindset is turned on its ear, and you are instead faced with uncertainty due to extreme adversity? Do you become defined by a diagnosis? Do you shut down and give up?

October is breast cancer awareness month, and statistics show that 1 in 8 U.S. women will get diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime. I personally can’t think of anything that signifies adversity more than receiving a cancer diagnosis.

Among many clients with many great stories, I’ve had the honor to train with three women that not only endured a breast cancer diagnosis and treatments, but did so with strength and poise. I met and started training with two of them post-treatment, while the third was diagnosed after she had already been training with me.

None of the three were defined by a diagnosis or allowed themselves to become victims. Instead, they each went on their own introspective journey to determine what was really important and find their purpose to persevere. Essentially, it came down to longevity and maintaining independence. Calisthenics training was at the top of the list to achieve these goals.

Why calisthenics? I decided to ask my three clients (Denise, Lori, and Ginny) for their thoughts on why they train.

Denise Mackey-Natz is a salon owner, wife, and mother:

Denise one-arm handstand

“I went through breast cancer and treatment July 3 – December 31, 2009. I had a lumpectomy and 8 rounds of chemo followed by 25 radiation treatments. It’s crazy to say, but that was the “easy” part for me because I always had an end date in mind to keep me focused. In February of 2010 I started tamoxifen for 5 years every day. This was the hardest part of my journey because the end date was so far away. In early spring a dear friend of mine convinced me to train with Benji. I truly believe that this saved me! My body was so weak. Regular visits with Benji have not only helped my body get stronger, but also my mind! And the friendships I have made throughout my workout journey will last forever. My husband and I even go one night a week together. It is our date night and we look forward to it every week!”

Lori Eklund Walsh is a therapist and mother:

Lori Raised pistol squat

“Throughout a variety of stressors and challenges the past few years, I have used my ability to maintain my workout routine as a benchmark for how well I am managing. In my mind, if I can’t get up and go to boot camp, I’m in trouble, need to take a serious look at what is going on, and make lifestyle adjustments accordingly. This was never truer than this past year after having been diagnosed with breast cancer. My goal was to not let the cancer and my treatment interfere with day-to-day life. Being able to continue my regular workout routine was paramount to maintaining my health and sanity. My Tuesday-Thursday workout group provided me with a supportive, encouraging, caring community that helped keep me motivated and grounded. People said I was an inspiration, but really, they were my inspiration. They told me I was beautiful when I showed up bald after losing my hair. They told me I was strong when I felt drained and weak. They laughed with me and cried with me, but most of all they welcomed me, accepted me, and just loved me.

I don’t have any scientific proof of the benefits of maintaining my activities at the level I did. But I firmly believe that the cross-body movements, balance, strength building, focus, and coordination applied from my calisthenics training helped keep me motivated, improved my mood, increased my stamina, minimized the size-effects from the treatments, and aided in memory and concentration. I was fortunate to have been in pretty good overall health at the time of my diagnosis, and even more fortunate to have been able to be with a group of people who were instrumental in helping me stay healthy during the course of my treatment. “

Lastly, Ginny is a widow, mother, grandmother, and all around bad-ass:

Ginny advanced rail push-ups

“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, resulting in a mastectomy. After just returning from my checkup, I can report once again that I am still cancer free and in good physical shape. This did not happen by not being proactive. When first learning of my cancer, my doctor emphasized how very important it will be to maintain a regular exercise program, along with good nutrition, and weight control. Exercise has made a huge difference in my life. As my doctor said, it plays a big part in producing antioxidants in my body, which is so important. Daily exercise and good nutrition keep me mentally and physically healthy. This regimen is not just for those of us who have been diagnosed with cancer, but very important for everyone as a preventative measure.”

What drives you to train? I encourage you to look deep inside to identify your true purpose, and I hope it’s never due to the need to overcome extreme adversity.

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Benji Williford, PCC, RYT, CF-L1 is a Personal Fitness Trainer located out of Eau Claire, WI. Benji believes that, “A successful fitness program is based on positive dialogue between the mind and body.” He can be reached through his website: http://www.benjiwilliford.com/, or by email: Benji@ChainReaction-Fitness.com.

Super Slow Reps for Superhuman Strength

February 16, 2016 By Benji Williford 19 Comments

Lead Photo Benji Williford

A lot of my personal training clients start out thinking that training faster means training better. But working out like The Flash won’t make you superhuman if you are bobbing your head for apples with your elbows flared out over your shoulders instead of actually doing push-ups. Poor form at a super-fast pace is not only allowing momentum to carry you through part of the range of motion, but it’s also potentially causing unnecessary strain on tendons and ligaments, as the muscles that should be doing the work aren’t activated properly.

My first rule for my clients is to focus on proper form. I created the phrase “AF3” which stands for Absolute Form Fit Function. The intention is to master the form, which improves fitness and ultimately, overall function. One antidote toward improper form is slowing down the rep speed. Let’s continue to look at the push-up as an example.

As you probably know, the push-up is essentially a traveling plank. It is a total body exercise and not just for building big pecs. Now do me a favor and go try an extremely slow push-up with full range of motion. Start in a plank with fully extended arms and lower down very gradually, touching your chest to the floor, then push back to fully extended arms.

You might have had some form breaks or even lacked strength to complete the rep. You should have definitely experienced the feeling of total body activation needed to maintain the straight body alignment in the absence of momentum. If you couldn’t do the full range-of-motion, consider modifying the exercise. For example, try placing your knees on the floor. This will shorten your body length (lever) so you will have to push less percentage of your bodyweight. Yes, the regression of an exercise can be an important part of progressing. It’s important to not let your ego deter you from modifications. You can often foster quicker progressions by perfecting “easier” versions of an exercise.

There are numerous ways you can manipulate your rep speed in order to develop better body control. The following is one example of a set of 7 push-ups stretched out over 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

Rep 1- 10 second rep (5 seconds down/negative and 5 seconds up/positive)
Rep 2- 20 second rep (10 seconds down/negative and 10 seconds up/ positive)
Rep 3- 30 second rep (15 seconds down/negative and 15 seconds up/positive)
Rep 4- 40 second rep (20 seconds down/negative and 20 seconds up /positive)
Rep 5- 30 second rep (15 seconds down/negative and 15 seconds up/positive)
Rep 6- 20 second rep (10 seconds down/negative and 10 seconds up positive)
Rep 7- 10 second rep (5 seconds down/negative and 5 seconds up/positive)

Notice how the set starts by climbing up the ladder in 10 second increments for each push-up from rep 1 (10 second rep) through rep 4 (40 second rep). Then at rep 5, it goes back down the ladder by decreasing the time in 10 second increments until you reach rep number 7 (10 second rep). The times listed aren’t absolute, so feel free to experiment with them. The important thing is to move evenly and controlled throughout the range-of-motion. Avoid fast jerky movements or hitting and holding positions.

To keep a solid pace, I recommend either using a stopwatch or a metronome (a device that musicians use to keep a specific tempo). Personally, I prefer the sound of the metronome. There are now free metronome apps available that you can download to your smartphone. Be sure to set the beats per minute to 60 (that equals one beat per second). It takes some concentration when counting to avoid rushing where you should be within a specific rep, which adds another layer and takes this challenge to the next level. It is mind over matter.

Though we’ve been using the push-up as our main example, remember that you can use this method with just about any exercise: pull-ups, squats (even pistols!), skin the cats…the list goes on.

Benji Williford PCC Pullup

Of course, you will move slowly if you only train slowly. So yes, performing fast reps is important. The point is to move fast well. In order to incorporate faster reps, you could use this structure by using the same 60 beats per minute with one set of 7 push-ups and adjusting the times as follows:

Rep 1- 2 second rep (1 seconds down/negative and 1 seconds up/positive)
Rep 2- 4 second rep (2 seconds down/negative and 2 seconds up positive)
Rep 3- 8 second rep (4 seconds down/negative and 4 seconds up/positive)
Rep 4- 16 second rep (8 seconds down/negative and 8 seconds up /positive)
Rep 5- 8 second rep (4 seconds down/negative and 4 seconds up/positive)
Rep 6- 4 second rep (2 seconds down/negative and 2 seconds up positive)
Rep 7- 2 second rep (1 seconds down/negative and 1 seconds up/positive)

Since the first rep and seventh rep are quick, you can even consider making them plyometric to build explosive power. Notice that shorter rep times will inherently eliminate some exercises. For example, it might not be the best idea to do a two second skin the cat.

Experiment with your rep speed but don’t let your ego get in the way. If you need to regress an exercise in order to maintain good quality of movement, then do so. Soon enough, you’ll gain the strength you desire to control any rep at any speed through it’s entire range-of-motion.

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Unlocking Your Hips for Pistol Squats

May 20, 2014 By Benji Williford 16 Comments

Benji Williford Bodyweight Pistol Squat

A strong body begins with flexibility, good body mechanics, and then progression. One of the biggest motivators to start calisthenics training is to conquer more advanced feats of strength like the pistol squat. But it is impossible to do pistols without adequate flexibility in the lower body as the hip, knee, and ankle are in deepest flexion at the bottom part of the rep. Before you can walk; you must crawl. Or in this case before you pistol; you must squat. A full range-of-motion squat is nearly impossible for most people when starting out as they spend most of their day sitting. Consequently, this usually results in tight hip flexors, calves, ankles, lower back, and weak glutes.

The first thing that I assess on new clients in regards to squats is their flexibility limitations in the hip and lower body.

“Blessed are the flexible for they will not allow themselves to become bent out of shape!”

~ Adapted from Robert Ludlum

The hip is a heavily muscled area and is made up of a ball-and-socket joint that is formed between the os coxa (hip bone) and the femur. Aside from the shoulder, the hip joint allows for the most range-of-motion than any other joint. If it allows for the most range-of-motion, all of its muscles (along with the leg) should get stretched to foster strengthening throughout the most range-of-motion making skills like the pistol squat obtainable.

The main movements of the hip:

Flexion—Lifting the leg forward in front of the body. The major muscles used are the psoas and rectus femoris. Seven other muscles assist comprising of five adductors, sartorius, and the tensor fascia lata. With normal range of motion, the leg can be lifted so that the thigh is within two inches of contacting the lower ribs.
Extension—Lifting the leg behind the body. The major muscles used are the hamstrings and the gluteus maximus. This motion also recruits movement from the lumbar region of the spine. With normal range of motion, the knee will rise above the level of the glutes.
Adduction—This occurs when the thigh moves across the midline of the body. Hip adductors include the pectineus, the adductors longus, brevis, and magnus, and the gracilis.
Abduction—This occurs when lifting the leg out to the side away from the midline of the body. The major muscle used is the gluteus medius. The gluteus minimus and the tensor facia lata also assist.
External rotation—This occurs when the leg is rotated outward so that the inner thigh faces forward/up and the knee out to side (away from the midline of the body). Muscles used are the external rotators located beneath the gluteus maximus (which is also an external rotator).
Internal rotation—This occurs when the leg is rotated inward so that knee is facing midline of the body. The major muscles involved are the gluteus minimus and tensor facia lata which are assisted by the gluteus medius.

The following video will demo a series of stretches that can be incorporated in a yoga practice, used for static stretches after a workout or any time after warming up the hips and legs with some mobility work. These series of stretches were designed to open up all of the different directions of movements of the hips and consequently the rest of the lower body. Since these stretches will open up the hip flexors, an added benefit is that it can potentially help ease lower back pain too.

Once you have the flexibility to complete a quality rep, it’s time to commit to proper body mechanics on mastering reps and gaining strength on each progression of an exercise. This is where the brain-body connection comes in as the brain sends electrical impulses though hundreds of thousands of chains of nerve fibers to the muscles every time you think about performing an exercise. Moreover, an insulating layer over the nerve fibers made up of protein and fatty substances called the myelin sheath increases every time a muscle pattern is repeated. Developing the myelin sheath with good biomechanics will enable you to perform a skill without as much effort. However, the opposite is also true. If you consistently practice poor biomechanics, it increases the myelin layers to reinforce those bad patterns. This can lead to poor performance and even injury.

Nerve, Neuron, and Myelin Sheath diagram

In short, work on gaining the flexibility required to perform a skill. Practice perfecting the body mechanics needed for the skill while gaining strength and continue to progress.

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Shoulder Opening: Stretches for Tight Shoulders

April 1, 2014 By Benji Williford 13 Comments

Continued progression toward getting stronger and improving performance requires a body that is “open” to the challenge. One of the biggest complaints that I consistently get from clients is about tight shoulders. It’s simple, you can’t move well if you can’t move. Some clients can’t hang from a bar without pain as they can’t even get their arms over their heads to get into position to do a pull-up; whereas other clients have a hard time in a plank to start push-ups without feeling neck pain (and everything in-between).

Opening up the shoulders and consequently the upper body will improve performance and help prevent injury. The shoulder joint is a ball and socket joint that really could be considered more of a ball and plate joint as it relies on the muscularity of the joint to keep it from dislocating. It is formed by the articulation of the head of the humerus with the scapula and is the most freely movable joint in the body. The main movements of the shoulder:

Flexion-Lifting the arm forward in front of the body. The primary movers to this position are the anterior and medial deltoid, biceps brachii, coracobrachialis, and the upper pectoralis major.
Extension-Pulling the arms back down and toward the back of the body. The primary movers are the latissimus dorsi and the teres major.
Adduction-Holding the arms out and pulling them toward the midline of the body. The primary movers are the pectoralis major and the anterior deltoid.
Adduction-Opening the arms away from the midline of the body. The prime mover is the posterior deltoid.
External rotation-Holding the arms by the side, rotate the shoulders outward so that the palms are facing up and the thumbs are pointing to the back using the posterior deltoid, infraspinatus, and teres minor.
Internal rotation- Holding the arms by the side, rotate shoulders inward so that the thumbs turn in toward the body using pectorailis major, latissimus dorsi, anterior deltoid, and the teres major.

Although shoulder movements can be placed in specific categories, exercises often times use combinations of those movements to complete a rep. For example in order to perform a muscle-up, the shoulders extend and external rotate to hold on to the bar. The shoulders will then go into flexion to pull the body to the bar and push the bar to the waist. Internal rotation also happens along the way. When looking at a get up, the shoulder will start in flexion with slight external rotation and will go through farther extension, abduction, internal rotation, external rotation, and extension again just to go from the floor to standing (1/2 the rep).

When stretching the shoulders, all of these movements should be taken into account in order to ensure that imbalances are fixed. The following video will demo a series of stretches that can be incorporated in a yoga practice, used for static stretches after a workout or any time after warming up the shoulders with some mobility work.

The additional benefits are that they will also open the chest, back, neck, and thoracic spine.

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