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Dear Reader
It was 1999: Swiss-based Kieser Training had expanded successfully into the German market. Why not keep up the momentum and give it a go across the Channel? After all, the English have back pain, too. And we need a foothold in the English-speaking world for our international expansion plans, if only for staff training.
But the British seemed to find it hard to see the connection between muscular weakness and back pain. Painkillers are easier and not so strenuous. But things are changing. The facility in London is now making a profit and is a good showcase for those interested in our Master Franchise concept. And eventually, even the message will get through on the British Isles: A strong back knows no pain.
Kilimanjaro
Kieser Training London customer Emily Hyland, has climbed the Kilimanjaro in August in support of a charity for Tanzanian street children. The 17-year-old was accompanied by her father, Per, also a KT customer. She knew at the summit that the ascent would have been a lot harder, if not impossible, without the proper preparation. So she unrolled a tribute to the idea that had helped with her preparation... More about the charity on www.msamaria.org.
Should anyone wish to support the Kilimanjaro Street Children’s Fund, they can do so by contacting kilimanjarokids@gmail.com.
When did you last have your back tested?
Do you know how strong your back muscles are? Strong enough to effectively support your spine?
In many cases, it is a lot easier to prevent a problem than cure it. That’s one of your likely motivations for doing Preventive Strength Training at Kieser Training. However, weaknesses of the deep spinal muscles often go undetected until it is too late and the pain has set in. While younger, the larger muscles of the back often compensate for these weaknesses and it is only with the onset of middle age that the instability of your spine shows up as pain. Even if you are pain-free at present, you may have such specific weaknesses that are not yet apparent. (See page 2 for more information on the workings of the spine.)
This is where our analytical tools come into play. With our Lumbar Extension and Cervical Extension machines, our specially trained therapists can measure with great accuracy the strength, mobility and endurance of your deep spinal muscles. The resulting graph depicts the complete active function of the spinal extensors, providing easyto- understand information on muscle weakness and abnormalities, the tendency of muscles to fatigue and their ability to recover. Individual results are compared on screen with results from the general population of people of your age and gender.
Should a specific weakness be detected, our on-site medical professional will advise you on the best way forward. For example, this may be a set of sessions on the Lumbar Extension machine. To measure and then improve the strength of the lumbar extensors it is essential to immobilise the gluteals and the leg muscles. This is done by anchoring the pelvis much more firmly than is possible on the F3 lower back machine, which was designed to train healthy backs without the 1:1 assistance of a therapist.
In any case, a regular analysis of your back’s strength provides an ideal basis for writing your personal training programme and gives you an objective measure of your progress. Ask at your facility’s reception for details of a back test.
Kieser Training is currently in the closing stages of the development of a system that will allow the measurement of the strength of individual muscles throughout your body. The Delphex Sensor System (DSS) is currently being piloted in a few of our facilities and we plan to role it out worldwide in the course of 2010 to help make your training with us even more effective.
Your muscles …
… make you smart
Photo: Michael Ingenweyen
Sometimes our grey matter lets us down: we miss appointments, forget words or mix up names. However, we can take effective action to stop this insidious loss of memory – yes, you’ve guessed it already, it’s sport. If we just sit and moulder in front of the screen, we not only get fat but stupid to boot. The brain, just like the body, needs regular exercise to prevent its decline as we grow older.
Numerous studies have shown that sport is good for brain fitness; it improves intellect, concentration and reaction. Up there in our head we have data highways. Each time we learn a new movement, we lay down a new highway and every time we repeat this movement, we reinforce that highway. If we feed the brain with unaccustomed patterns of movement, the brain produces new nerve cells and pathways in which to store this new data. In particular, sport can train the brain and boost blood flow and brain metabolism. This process continues to work well even as we get older and beats any medication available to slow down Alzheimer’s, dementia, depression, etc.
So for budding masterminds, it’s time for some strenuous mental exercise!
