English edition | www.kieser-training.com          PDF

Title | Know your body: Muscles, Bones & Co | Technology & Training | Strength for Life | ARCHIVE

Kieser Training – “ripe for the museum”?

Kieser Training is one of the exhibits in the “Magic Mountains – Switzerland as Energy Centre and Sanatorium” exhibition running at the Landesmuseum in Zurich until 15th August.

The exhibition, curated by Felix Graf from the Swiss National Museum and Eberhard Wolff from the Institute and Museum of the History of Medicine at the University of Zurich explores the image of Switzerland as a paradise for health – beyond just traditional medicine and pharmaceuticals.

Sanatorium of Europe
For centuries, civilised man considered the Swiss mountains as uninhabitable. Only those who grew up there could withstand the highaltitude air trapped between the mountains. The poor quality of the water was blamed for the high incidence of conditions like goitres and doctors were unanimous in the belief that the consumption of milk and its products made people fat, lazy and stupid. However, this image changed at the beginning of the 18th century and Switzerland transformed itself into the “sanatorium of Europe” .

The four magic mountains
The exhibition takes visitors through the four “Magic Mountains” . In 1900, the term Magic Mountains was adopted as the brand name for Switzerland as “health paradise” and the symbol of its identity: Firstly, the “Magic Mountain of Vaud” with the Leysin Mountain Clinic where thousands of soldiers were treated for tuberculosis.

Secondly, the “Magic Mountain of Grison” with the Davos forest sanatorium, a luxurious site that attracted pilgrims for periods of weeks, months or even years for the high-altitude treatment for tuberculosis. Thirdly, the “Zurich Mountain” with the Vital Force sanatorium founded by Dr. Max Bircher-Benner, a Mecca for the wealthy and famous and the origin of the famous Swiss Muesli – Muesli being the only Swiss-German word to have found its way into the global vocabulary. And finally, the Magic Mountain of Ticino that was also home to the back to nature colony Monte Verità (Hill of Truth).

Switzerland as Energy Centre
The exhibition then looks at natural remedies through the elements of light, air, water and altitude. It explores “Made in Switzerland”-branded products such as Ovaltine, Rivella, Ricola and Rausch and finally strength training. The Energy Centre honours Werner Kieser as a Swiss pioneer in modern strength training, following in the tradition started by the Swedish doctor Gustav Jonas Zander (1835–1920) and the Austrian Max Herz (1865– 1956). Zander’s system of mechanical therapy was used until 1930 in Swiss clinics, health spas and the private homes of the wealthy. It used seemingly archaic strength training equipment with terrifying names such as the torso massage machine and rocking saddle from which we can guess that strength training was not something for the faint-hearted. Somewhat bizarre was the “Clias Helmet” invented by the Swiss father of gymnastics Phokion Heinrich Clias (1782–1854). This was a modified fireman’s helmet designed for strengthening neck muscles. Visitors are invited to try the latest generation of Kieser Training machines so that they can experience the extent of progress made. According to the Exhibition Catalogue, Kieser Training is seen outside Switzerland as an expression of the trustworthy nature of Swiss health products.

www.zauberberge.landesmuseum.ch

Column

In philosophy, health is that desolate limbo where we fear the worst. In the same way that we cannot avoid growing old, we cannot avoid illness. We can only enjoy anything approaching a happy life if we accept death as a fact of life or as Martin Heidegger expressed it as a determining principle of life. Moreover, health itself can only be enjoyed, if we accept illness as an unavoidable part of life. The correct interpretation of the term self-care is not to ignore illness but to integrate it into our life. As Nietzsche quite rightly wrote, the problem that Man faces is not suffering itself but the lack of an answer to that querulous cry “why do we suffer”? According to Nietzsche, humans suffer primarily from the “illness” of wanting nothingness rather than not wanting. The only way to cope with the human suffering caused by this lack of meaning is not to want, i.e. neither something nor nothing! Only if we free ourselves from any notion of what life should be can we embrace what life offers; in other words, only if we expect nothing and demand nothing from life can we find what is hidden beyond the edge of the path.

Dr. Siegfried Reusch, Editor in chief of journal “der blaue reiter” – Journal for Philosophy, www.derblauereiter.de, www.verlag-derblauereiter.de

The Pasta Principle is not enough

During the World Cup in South Africa, Kieser Training customer and celebrity chef Holger Stromberg is catering for the physical wellbeing of the German players – and is also serving up some dietary wisdom.

Mr. Stromberg, you celebrate cooking as an art. What can we discover if we look beyond just the food on the plate?
First of all, you do need to take a quick look at the food on the plate as it soon disappears. Despite what many of my guests claim, I do not regard cooking as an art. Rather, I see it as a skill that is primarily a craft. I am seeking to change food culture in Germany and make it a pleasure. For example, this includes the ambiance. I am not a traditional chef in that I do escape the confines of my white-tiled kitchen.

So you are not just heating up pasta for the national team?
Unfortunately, the school curriculum in Germany rarely includes nutrition and so I want to encourage players to think about what they eat. To do this, I have established a culture of communication within the team and made many changes, including the rehabilitation of pulses. We should pay attention to what we eat. It’s worth it – after all, it’s our No. 2 source of energy after oxygen.

Is pasta still on the menu before a game?
Of course, we still have pasta. However, not just any old pasta! Players consume their final ration of carbonhydrates 3 ½ hours before a match. If the pasta is made from white flour, players quickly consume this energy and have insufficient to last the game. Wholemeal products, on the other hand, provide a longer lasting store of energy. However, other things must also be right as a poor diet will cause physical problems in the long term. Top performance is only possible if the energy mix is right.

What do you regard as the perfect energy cocktail?
Football is first and foremost an endurance sport – strength is important but it is secondary. As a result, the footballer’s diet must contain in descending order of priority complex carbohydrates, protein and finally fat. However, if we want to train strength and just strength – as with Kieser Training – we need to reduce carbohydrate intake, i.e. bread, pasta, rice and potatoes and focus more on animal and vegetable proteins, i.e. eggs, tofu, pulses, nuts, fish, meat and poultry. Although fat is an essential source of energy many of us eat too much unhealthy fats. We need to develop a sense of our own body so that we instinctively know what it needs and what does it good.

You have personal experience of that ...
Unfortunately! When I was younger I paid little attention to my own diet with the result that even now I still suffer from joint problems. In addition, during the years I was building up my business I gave up all sport. Working 16-hour days, my muscles and good posture disappeared down the drain. A year ago, I made tracks for Kieser Training in serious pain and with feeble muscles. The improvement, even after the first training session, was incredible.

Please note: This interview was conducted before the World Cup Finals

Impressum

Publisher   Kieser Training AG, Kanzleistrasse 126, 8026 Zurich, Switzerland

CEO   Michael Antonopoulos

Editor   David Fritz, reflex@kieser-training.com

Regular Contributor   Michaela Rose, www.sportjournalistin.de

Programming   Michael Fuchs Online-Marketing, www.mfo.ch

Reflex is published quarterly.

All material in this magazine (including its online version) is © 2009 Kieser Training AG and cannot be used without written permission.

Title | Know your body: Muscles, Bones & Co | Technology & Training | Strength for Life | ARCHIVE