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So, what do I hear from my Trainer?
Etruscan Art 520-510 B.C Terracotta and Pigment by Epiktetos – The Athletic Trainer
The forked stick held by this man identifies him as an athletic trainer. 
The ancient author Epictetus (A.D. 55-135) vividly describes the role of a trainer in an athlete’s path to victory:
[Athlete:] I wish to win an Olympic victory.
[Trainer:] (If so), you have to submit to discipline, follow a strict diet, give up sweet-cakes, train under compulsion at a fixed hour, in heat or in cold; you must not drink cold water, nor wine just whenever you feel like it; you must have turned yourself over to your trainer precisely as you would to a physician. Then when the contest comes on you, you have to dig in beside your opponent, sometimes dislocate your wrist, sprain your ankle, swallow quantities of sand, take a scrourging; yes, and then sometimes get beaten along with all that.
Common knowledge to the Spartan Running Girl, Marathon Man, Phidippides of yesteryears and today. (Courtesy of Wall Panel with an Athletic Trainer housed at the Getty Villa Malibu)
This is certainly no new fad, certainly to not to the athlete. Trainers have been telling us to “be quiet and get to work or you would not be in my gym”, for a very long time. (520-510 B.C)
This phenomenon is new, however, to 21st century people who:
- Sit in cars for what seems to be an eternity to go sit at computers all day.
- Sit in the same cars to go home and sit at another computer, or be entranced with television and video games..
- Inactivity is further compounded by the choice to eat mindlessly while doing these “activities.”
Take a break. Move, Sweat!
- “Champion” your effort to return to better health with no complaints. The consequences of inactivity are not pleasant.
- Dealing with physical challenges? Move to the best of your ability!
- Work best by engaging family, friends or joining a group of people who are facing the same physical challenge? Do that! There is power in numbers.
- Do what’s right for you. Talk to your doctor or physical therapist.
Submit to discipline, healthy diet, new hours, unfavorable weather, tepid water and lack of sweet-cakes or “donies” as they are called in our house! Train for the Good Life of Health to the best of your ability.
Your Internal GPS
Experiencing weight bearing activity on a compliant surface such as the Original SANDDUNE, engages use of proprioception otherwise known as your internal GPS. Exercise on this apparatus safely recruits muscle fiber without the traditional tearing that occurs on hard surfaces. This is why we suggest padding for at least 2 weeks to become acquainted with the Original SANDDUNE™’s unconventional surface.
Padding is simply walking but keeping your feet in constant contact with the surface. This is suggested for EVERYONE, including high-functioning athletic types. Resist the temptation to jog. Why? Because you are retraining every muscle
and joint in your body including long and short muscles closest to the bone.
This is “mindful” centering of the somatosensory body (in this case determining the exact location of sensations on your body) – is a new way of educating and retraining the foundation of your physical body (neuropathways) using the SANDDUNE™.
Simply holding on to a bar and learning to stand on one leg with your other foot raised slightly above the pad after you have centered yourself or just standing and learning to create small dime size circles clock-wise and counter-clockwise under your foot, noticing how the sensation moves up your legs into the trunk and into the hip sockets, will help you begin to retrain your foundation.
Learning the subtleties of how the body aligns and connects through the resistance option of both uphill and downhill positions teaches postural integrity. The uphill slope is higher and simulates walking uphill. The downhill slope is lower and simulates walking downhill.
Beginning these exercises slowly and building speed and momentum may not feel like much to start, but the results will definitely make themselves known or felt in a relatively short time as the muscle activation becomes stronger and the movement easier.
Once you step off and resume walking on a normal surface, you will begin to notice subtle changes in your posture. This is your new way of educating and retraining the foundation of your core balance, strength, and coordination.
Sharing Harvard Health Twitter
Harvard Health People who practice #mind-body medicine used fewer health care services, says new study http://hvrd.me/TvkPQ
“Just like fluorinating your water or vaccinating yourself, these are ways of keeping you healthy with, from a public health perspective, minimal investment,” Dr. Stahl says. “My own opinion is that we should probably be teaching those skills in grade school.”
Balance and Canes and Walkers, Oh My!!!!
I feel unsure of my balance and need a walker or a cane for support right now. My friends tell me that I shuffle my feet. How can Original SANDDUNE™ help me?
Working out on Original SANDDUNE™ both strengthens and conditions the muscles and the joints of the lower body because it engages them more fully in the process of walking and movement. It connects the muscles of your abdominal core, hip chamber and psoas muscle which is weak in many people who have reduced or stopped their physical activity and lost the ability to lift their legs properly when walking, thus shuffling their feet.
Neuropathy, Toes and Original SANDDUNE™
Stretching and Walking on Original SANDDUNE™
If you are having this problem you may also have issues with your feet and experience neuropathy as a result. The unique surface and flexibility of the SANDDUNE™, allows you to exercise your toes, foot and ankle, individually and collectively. This means your foot is “relearning” how to work together as a unit. Your anchor system to the ground is stronger and has better circulation and range of movement. You “relearn” to look up and look “ahead” to what is coming instead of down in anticipation of falling.
Albert Einstein, Gravity and Exercise
Weighted pant workout for increased intensity rebound work.
Albert Einstein discovered that the human body cannot tell the difference between the forces of acceleration or deceleration and gravity. No one cared about this finding until mirror resistant exercise or rebounding exercise began to hold the interest of those in high levels of the fitness community in the 1970s.
Rebuild balance, stability and strength in hip and lower body with squats executed in slow graduated drops or static holds at different heights. Fires the Glutes!
All forms of exercise depend on opposition to gravity to have any effect at all. If we have no gravity to hold us down we would not be able to walk upright, let alone exercise.
At the beginning of the space program, NASA took this into consideration when thinking about the astronauts’ health returning from space.
Their concern was the effect their space travel would have on their immune system’s suppression of white blood cells.
Why? When in space the lack of gravity hampers the flow of the lymphatic fluid in the body. It has no pump like the heart to move it along. Atrophy sets in and cells in muscles become weak. This flow can be compared to a great ship traveling through a lock. With no gravity or exercise, there is no need or desire to push to get to the next lock in the canal or level of fitness.
Video clip – Weighted Belt Workout for Upper Body strength, balance, stability and flexibility.
NASA utilized grueling exercise for the astronauts to achieve the rebuilding of the active immune system’s cells upon return to earth. On the other hand, the Swiss used a centrifuge to “fool” the cells into believing they were experiencing increased G-Force and the immune system automatically adjusted by becoming 3 times stronger than under normal earth gravity.
Every single cell in the human body responds instantaneously to the increased physical demands generated by the increased gravity caused by a simple mirror resistance/rebounding workout like that provided on Original SANDDUNE™.
Whose side is gravity going to be on today?
Seattle Seahawks or New England Patriots?
Who would Albert choose?
Cardiovascular Health
Beyond Vegetables and Exercise:
5 Surprising Ways to Be Heart Healthy
Sharing information from Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer of LiveScience.com
http://www.livescience.com/35470-five-surprising-ways-to-lower-risk-of-heart-disease-and-stroke-110210.html
Got Snow? Need Sand?
Too much snow, wind and ice for a workout in the fresh air?
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Maintain or build your physical fitness, coordination and balance indoors with low impact exercise that jump starts your cardio as it simulates running, walking and exercising in the sand. How?
With Original SANDDUNE™ .
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Call Cynthia @ 714-264-7896
Cardio Burst Short Demo 1:07
Portable, Easy to Store and Simple to Use.
Better Balance and Human Performance
Right now there is a DEMAND for better or greater balance in all aspects of HUMAN performance.
Original SANDDUNE’s unique properties have the capacity to help rebuild these “balance” challenges.
Daily living – sedentary lifestyle, poor posture, gait and core strength
Fitness – rebuilding, maintenance and weight loss
Recovery from surgery or injury – hip, knee, ankle, foot surgery and lower back issues (Prehabilitation and rehabilitation)
Ageing population – chronic illness leading to sedentary lifestyle, and poor gait
Caregivers – facing lack of physical exercise due to demands of caregiving
Children and Adults with Visual and or Vestibular challenges
Coping with the challenge of chronic illness or physical
limitation regardless of age– Stroke, Parkinson’s, MS, Diabetes …
Professional – Firefighter, professional athlete
Original SANDDUNE™ 