Turkish Get Ups

This is one of the simplest, yet most complex resistance exercises that a person can do. I recommend using different weights to provide the resistance - if you have some injuries or problems to deal with, use a light weight (in the order of 3-5 kilos) - if you want to build strength and condition your body more strongly, use a weight of about 16 kilos for blokes, 8-12 kilos for girls. I've seen it done with a 75 pound weight, held vertically above the hand, but that's a long-term commitment...


Simplest exercises using the whole body are best, and this is one of the kings of the category.


Stand and hold the weight above your head in one hand with the arm fully extended.
Start breathing (in or out) and slowly lie down, keeping the weight above your head and the arm fully extended.
Then get up, keeping the weight above the head and the arm fully extended and continuing to breathe.


That's it.


The breath should lead the movement, and contain the movement. This means that the breath begins before the movement starts and finishes after the movement finishes. Nothing should make any noise when it touches the ground. This will ensure that you don't jar or bruise yourself on the floor.




There's a concept in Russian conditioning that there are always many ways of using the same simple exercise.

In the beginning and to build health, use your muscles.

As you continue, reduce the muscle and start relying more on the connective tissue and the breath.

To learn efficiency and effectiveness, use more breath and your bones to hold you up until there is only breath and bone left in the movement- your muscles will fail, but your bones and your breath are always there.

Working really, really slowly (make an exercise last a minute- 30 breaths up and 30 down) brings emotional and psychological factors into play very, very quickly, and builds strength and a healthy humility. 


Some ideas for variations:
Get down and up in one breath (out on the way down and in on the way up or the reverse)
Get up and down on only one inhale or exhale
Get down, switch hands and get up
Five breaths down, five breaths up
Try not to use any muscles at all on the way down (and up)

Have fun and remember to smile.

The 49

This is an exercise I have adapted somewhat as an adjunct to (and compensation for) Iron Body/Iron Palm and grip strength training from the martial arts.  I have found it to be really great for building wrist and hand strength and mobility, as well as rehabilitating the body after wrist/hand injuries or 'pre-habilitating' the body so it is less pre-disposed to being prone to injury in these areas in the first place.

I was taught 'The 49' as basically the same movement - a forceful 'flicking' of the fingers from a loose fist out to fully extended and spread apart (place your hand on a table and move the fingers as far apart as they will go without lifting them off the table to see the end position), repeated 7 times in 7 positions.

Slowly and loosely shake the hands and wrists to loosen them up and prepare them for working before you begin.

1- arms in front and bent (forearms parallel to the floor)
2- arms above head straight (perpendicular to the floor or slightly in front of the head)
3- arms behind body straight (wherever you can get to)
4- arms down at sides straight (I think this is easy enough)
5- arms out to the sides straight (level with the shoulders)
6-  one arm up, one down
7- the other arm up, the other other arm down

Then do some slow loose shaking of the hands and wrists to loosen up again and spread the synovial fluid around in the joints and lubricate the tendons and ligaments. The whole sequence takes about a minute.

This can be done statically (holding the arms in one position for the 7 flicks) or more dynamically (arms reaching their final position as described at the same moment as the full extension of the fingers). It is nice to start with the static version, then move into more dynamic work.

It doesn't really matter where exactly the arms are placed for this exercise, 'The 49' is more just  a mnemonic device so you remember to do 'a big bunch' of the flicking movements under slightly different conditions of load on the arms, circulatory stress, range of motion and to ensure a good balance of different stresses.

What is important is to fully extend the fingers away from each other on every flick.



Enjoy the movement, breathe, relax, smile and feel free to come up with your own variations (just make sure the fingers go all the way apart on each flick). Once a day is plenty for this exercise and you will most likely feel some fatigue and a little effort in the forearms from doing it, but as always when you do this or any exercise I describe, if something hurts, stop doing it.

Does Blogspot's email posting work?

Let's try it and see...


and- it does work!

Now I can blag from wherever I happen to be.

As long as the mobile signal is good...

Square Breathing

Use a rhythm, either external (like your footsteps while walking) or internal (like your heartbeat) to keep time and breathe naturally for a little while - take only as much air as you need and try to breathe out a little more than you breathe in. Feel for the small pauses between the breath in and the breath out and try to make the whole process very smooth and un-hurried.

Then use the count to expand the pauses between breaths so that instead of feeling 'breathe in;breathe out', you breathe in for 1 count; hold the breath for one count; breathe out for one count and hold your breath for one count. Then repeat.

Again, take only the air that you need and try to make the whole process smooth and un-hurried. Breathe in slowly and for the whole count. Breathe out slowly and for the whole count. After the hold on the out breath, you will find it difficult, but breathe slowly and smile.

Your count could be five steps, or ten, or twelve; or it could be 3 heartbeats, 9 heartbeats - some people count in prayers or affirmations, some people use a count of twenty flat-out running steps.

You can make this as challenging or as easy as you want to - some counts will feel more comfortable than others, and sometimes you will feel that you can increase the count; sometimes not.

If you try some long counts (lots of steps or heartbeats per breath), you may find that you begin to feel anxious or panicky. If this happens, smile and slow down...

If the world starts turning black from the ground up - smile a LOT and consider reducing your count.

Don't be fanatical, try to act normal- and have fun with this. It should not be a chore - if it's not entertaining, or becomes difficult, revert to natural breathing for a while...

The most important part is to pay attention to how you feel inside.

Them Crooked Vultures at the Hordern last night

Fantastically entertaining show - we sat at the back because I was tired (long day building IKEA furniture) and thought it was kind of lucky that Josh Homme is sort of double-sized, it meant that it seemed we were closer..

The crowd got a little lost in some numbers - John Paul Jones came out with some electric bouzouki/oud sort of thing and played what I thought was the coolest track of the night, but all the confused, stationary heads in the crowd looked like they were having trouble counting to 9 - they couldn't keep up...

As always, Dave Grohl did a great 'Animal' impression (I think we may both have watched too much Sesame street as kids) - and some really nice touches, some double-sticking a la Gene Krupa (and a lot of snare-off work, again, a la Gene Krupa) - Josh's guitar tone was awesome, and I think he's accidentally turned into a 'real singer' over the last couple of years...

All in all - a very entertaining show, but possibly due to my lack of familiarity with the material, it was more a really entertaining show with great bits, rather than a great all-round show.. I did like the love song Homme dedicated to Jones...

It's just a shame Dave wouldn't let them play any encores..

Another Try this Today - Fake Yoga for freedom and mobility

Put one hand, or foot, or knee on the ground and try to move as far as possible away from that body part. Make sure you don't jerk or strain the body- do move slowly, and wherever possible, remain in each position for a couple of relaxed breaths. To discover additional movements, try to shuffle into a new position rather than jumping or lifting the body. Treat your joints like porcelain - don't grind or crunch them into the floor…

To explore this idea, you can begin lying down, to take most of the strain off the body and foster a feeling of safety and security.

Sinus Arrhythmia

One very common clinical finding I come across during a physical examination is a phenomenon called Sinus Arrhythmia (SA), also called Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) (but as RSA is already used as an acronym for Responsible Service of Alcohol and for Rivest, Shamir and Adleman, I won't use it here)- This is a finding in which the heart rate speeds up during inhalation and slows down during exhalation.

Recent research has suggested this is a normal physiological response, and indeed, it is more commonly found in children and in the very fit. The slowing down of the heart rate during exhalation is due to the nervous system switching into a momentary state of parasympathetic (3 S's - Sleep, Sandwiches, Sex) dominance, as opposed to the commonly known sympathetic (Fight or Flight) dominance.

There may be any number of reasons why this occurs, and research is still continuing, but as SA is something I try to reduce whenever I find it, I'd like to put forward some of my ideas on why it is so common (and why I treat patients to reduce it when it is present). The Chinese Medical model considers most arrythmias (and many other cardiac problems) to be the result of either obstruction or deficiencies in the energy that supplies the heart and the 'Upper Heater'- Metaphorically, the upper chest is considered to be the uppermost of a system that the Chinese term the San Jiao (3 Energisers/Burning Spaces or 3 Heaters) and the San Jiao is considered to exist in the 'Cou Li', the spaces between organs, the interstices. The Upper Heater is somewhat analogous to the mediastinum, the pleura and the linings of the airways in the lungs, along with the 'bag' of the pericardium.

The nervous system functions that regulate the heart rate are very easily modulated by acupuncture treatment. Commonly, retaining one needle in a point called Lung 9 (Taiyuan) for a period of twenty minutes or so is enough to reduce the severity of SA, and generally only a few repetitions are needed to eliminate it completely. Taiyuan is considered to be a point that boosts the energy of the Lung channel (acupuncture meridian) and of the Lung organ itself, as well as removing obstructions from anywhere in the Upper Heater. Other points can be added to assist with this regulatory function, depending on the patient's constitution and presentation.

I surmise that the 'problem' here (not that SA is anything to be really concerned about in and of itself) is that many of us are walking around in a permanent, slight state of sympathetic nervous system over-excitation and dominance. When the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in during exhalation, the difference between sympathetic and parasympathetic dominance is very pronounced and noticeable, often even to the point where the pulse speeds up a lot during inhalation, then seems almost to stop for a couple of beats' worth of time, before starting again.

Interestingly, it is fairly common to see patients (myself included) who display a quite pronounced SA when stressed or exhausted, but none at all when rested or when they feel energised.

To check for yourself, simply find a pulse anywhere on your body (usually the carotid artery in the neck is easily found) and feel the rate for a few breaths. Once a 'normal' rate has been established, take a deep breath and let it out. If you feel that the heart rate speeds up during inhalation and then slows down during exhalation, you have most likely found a Sinus Arrhythmia (which is nothing to worry about- take a few more breaths...).

If you do find this phenomenon occurs for you or for someone you know, consider how you feel generally. If you feel perfect, full of energy and free from any nagging complaints (and you are quite or super-fit) then your SA becomes simply an indicator of being in fine health, with a nice sensitivity to your blood chemistry. If you feel otherwise, then maybe it is time to consider adding some light cardiovascular exercise and possibly some acupuncture treatment to your maintenance schedule. It is our job as healthcare providers to set up conditions so that your body does the best possible job of maintaining itself in perfect balance.