Healthy, Locally Grown Food is a Good Thing.

Our family strives to eat the freshest food we can get and avoid packaged, processed product as much as possible. We do not always get it right but we are getting better and for that the entire family also feels better. Our home city of Calgary is growing like crazy. Stress is high, traffic is fast, staff is hard to find and housing is expensive. I believe to effectively deal with these urban stresses one must eat well, sleep well and have a place to simply get away. Our local farmers market is just that place for me and that is why I wrote the following letter to the editor is response to an article suggesting it will be closed down to make way for a new chain retailer.

Dear Sirs,

In reference to your Sunday Herald Future of the farmers market article.

I am a business owner in Calgary and a weekly customer of the Calgary Farmers Market. I travel North America wide on Business and have rarely seen a better market than the Calgary Farmers Market. We purchase all our food for our household of 5 from there and are very pleased to eat healthy, locally grown, seasonal food and to support other local small business.

It would be a crime to allow this outstanding example of how regional growers can service an urban population to go away because it might not fit in to Canada Lands idea of a “European-styled High street looking place”. I thought I lived in a great city and region and do not understand why we have to take away our own style to try to look like something else.

I strongly encourage all parties interested to be vocal and start a petition in support of keeping this city jewel intact and hopefully expanding. If we do the right thing here, we might just find folks over in Europe planning a Calgary style farmers market that is a healthy, happy place to purchase regionally grown foods and support small home grown businesses.

In closing, I suggest that it would not be possible to find a better anchor tenant in this development than our own proven Calgary Farmers Market.

Sincerely,

Louis Stack

Mr. Fitter tries the Wii Fit

We now have our household Wii! It fits in nicely with all the DuraBalls and Wobble boards we have around our home. My kids are 11 , 12 and my step son is 23 so this stuff is used often. For us, the Wii came at Christmas with all the games except the Wii Fit (which is what I really wanted to test). So for Father’s Day the family gave me the newest version of the Wii Fit Board. It does not look like much, but then again the $10,000 to $80,000 medical Balance assessment units I have used for years at medical Tradeshow do not really look all that fancy either.

My hope was that the unit would help get lazy kids off the couch because couch potatoes start early in life as tater tots- and thanks to technology our tots are looking more like taters all the time! My kids are very active but also able to sit and play computer games for 4 or 5 hours with out having a clue as to the time they have invested.

My son took the Wii out the box and it was operational in less than 60 second. No wories, no fuss, just load the program and turn it on. So far so good! Next they found what looked like games to play via weight shifting from right to left. Not hard but I suppose for some it would be very difficult.

I noticed the yoga, aerobics and strength options but the kids and I finally agreed to test out the Skiing as that is our favorite sport. We all took turns and laughed as we fumbled our way down the slope as we tried to figure out the required weight shift. It is not like real skiing but it was fun and after 3 or 4 tries I could feel that some good old core stabilization was happening. After 4 hours, on the rainy day, we all decided that this was a fun and healthy product.

Over the past week I have stepped on it 4 more times and it welcomes me and makes me feel like I was missed on the days I failed to use it. Today I did a short strength workout including push ups, planks, tree poses, and half moon stretches. After 40 minutes of playing I found my self with a light sweat and felt pretty good. So, for a reward I tried to master the advance ski racing and according to the little man at the end of each run I am still in shame with poor performance ( 5 years of world cup speed skiing should have been enough training, but I guess not for the world of Wii).

I have noticed the Wii says all my family generally has great balance. Some of us are not in great shape (me) but I guess my core is still strong enough from Active Sitting and Ball Sitting that the machines rate me as very fit! When we are taking turns on the Wii , the rest of us are ball sitting or standing on a balance board simply because it helps keep our reaction speed sharp. So the balance toys are always around and available to use even when the Wii Fit is off or busy. It has also proven to us based on the world of Wii measuring, that we have great balance, core strength and coordination in general ( The Wii Fit measures all this and keeps track of it for you- I like this feature a lot).

Wii feedback is more clear proof that daily balance training at work, home or school is worth doing so that you maintain a strong core and good balance. A Balance board for standing and exercise ball for sitting and stretching are so easy to incorporate into your office. Every work or learning place should have many around for casual use. If you do start to use balance product in you 9 to 5 then when you get home to your Wii game or equivalent, you will be the master and maybe even be able to show up your kids!

As for why I cannot do better than beginner in the WII ski racing, well, I guess I am getting older and my reactions are not as fast as they once were. Maybe that is why I lost fun races to both my ski racing younger kids this ski season too.

Bottom line: Wii is fun, Wii is great for balance/ body awareness training, Wii will get kids more active in front of a screen. Wii is a great compliment to the need of making balance training a daily activity any way you can. So use it or lose it!

Young or Old – A Healthy Active Body = A Healthy Active Mind

Keeping kids healthy and active in the era of television, computers and gameing can be a challenging task. Fortunately, with a little help from S.A.M. (Stability, Agility, and Mobility) it is easier than ever to keep children active and moving, even while they sit in front of the TV. Using hop balls, exercise balls, and balance stones gets children active without them even knowing it. These balance toys can also grow along with the kids, making for years of FUNctional fitness.

Product Ideas for all ages:
Balance toys are an exciting venture for the whole family. Find the right fit for your family: www.fitter1.com/Catalog/Category/25/FamilyFitness.aspx

Ages 0-3

-30 cms exercise ball. A great starter exercise ball in a pint sized package.

-Doggie, Pony, Elle and Rody Horse. These inflatable friends are fun and help to integrate core strength and balance. They can be inflated to grow along with the kids.

- Airex mats are a good product to consider if the floor surface your kids play on is concrete or very hard. Soft surfaces are better for balance and make playing on the ground safer and more enjoyable.

Ages 3-6:

-Balance stones create an unstable environment for relay courses and footwork fun.
-Exercise balls. It is never too soon to get children actively sitting, and exercise balls are great for both computers and watching TV.

-Foam rollers are fun for kids of all ages as they sit, roll and play balance games with and on the foam rollers.

Ages 6 and above:

-Hop balls let the little ones hop away the energy and focus on balance and stability.
-Balance Boards are an easy product for kids to play on. They balance, spin and tilt simply because it feels good.

- Bongo boards, Indos and BoardRocks are great to keep kids focused on balance. They can play for hour on these products and continue to enhance their agility and reaction skills. Especially good for kids who like skiing, skating, blading and boarding.

These are just a few ideas for tool to help keep your kids healthy and happy. I always say a ”Healthy Active Body = A Healthy Active Mind”. So teach you kids well and then follow their example yourself.

Enjoy the Ride – Entrepreneur Rollercoasters

I have experienced many ups and downs as an entrepreneur during the past 20 years, but the most memorable “roller coaster” occurred in 1991.

At that time, Fitter International, Inc <http://www.fitter1.com/> ., had been operating in starvation mode for six years. Cash wasn’t flowing, and consumers were only beginning to realize the importance of balance products. Feeling the need to escape the strain of managing a barely surviving business, I bought a cheap plane ticket to visit my older brother in Hollywood, California, USA, with the intention of taking some tennis lessons and just hanging out.

Right before I left, I received a call from Powder Magazine <http://www.powdermag.com/> . They read our press release and wanted to do a story on our flagship product, so they requested an interview at their offices in Dana Point, California. I was stoked!

When I arrived in Los Angeles, I rented a car, and not thinking much of it, I declined the rental insurance since the car was covered by my new personal car insurance. The interview went great, and the story was sure to be a breakthrough for the company. Afterward I stopped in Newport Beach and, feeling euphoric, I splurged on a new lime-green wetsuit, rented a surfboard and locked everything I owned in the trunk of my rental car except my swimsuit, a beach mat and a pink Cowtown Saddle Company Stampede t-shirt. I was off to the beach to ride some waves and relax. After three hours of surfing, I sat on the beach watching the sunset and the dolphins in the surf. It was the perfect finish to the day.

When I returned to the parking lot, an old Volkswagen van sat where my car used to be. I soon realized that my car had been stolen! My wallet, passport, briefcase, Pro Fitter, tennis racquet and all my clothes were gone. After frantically searching the length of the beach for the car, I returned to the surf shop with no identification or money. I called the police, and the surf shop owner gave me back the US$20 I had used to rent the surfboard. It was just enough to buy a burger at McDonald’s and a shuttle up to the Los Angeles International Airport.

At 2 p.m. I was enjoying the sun and surf, and by 2 a.m. I was walking barefoot, broke and hungry – in my swimsuit and pink t-shirt, no less – around the streets near the LAX trying to hitch a ride to my brother’s place in Hollywood. After sleeping at my brother’s for a few hours, I called to report the stolen car. Much to my chagrin, my insurance agent forgot to put the CD$25 annual rental car waiver on my insurance policy, so I didn’t even have rental car insurance. And on top of that, when I called to cancel my credit cards, I learned that they were all charged over their limit at several retail stores along the Pacific Coast Highway. I was now down one US$12,000 car, all my credit cards, identification and clothing. I was so upset that I just had to get home to Calgary.

Since my Air Canada ticket was stolen, all I could do was buy a new one-way fare courtesy of my company. But I had to pay extra since the only seat left was in first class. While waiting in the check-in line, I glanced behind me, and to my utter astonishment, there stood Wayne Gretzky! He was on his way to Edmonton for the first time since he left the Oilers. I introduced myself and mentioned I was the “Fitter guy,” since I knew he had used it in Edmonton after his knee injury.

While I stood there wearing my brother’s clothes I shared what had happened to me during the past 24 hours. His actress wife was from Newport Beach, and she was disappointed to hear how much trouble I had encountered in her hometown. We then boarded the plane, and I was tickled to realize where my seat was— right next to Wayne and Janet Gretzky and Wayne’s agent, Mike Barnett.

In a little more than 24 hours, I had gone from a Powder Magazine feature story, to barefoot, almost naked and hungry on the streets of Los Angeles, to flying home in first class with the greatest hockey player of our time, who just happened to be one of my customers.

What a roller coaster of emotions! I laughed, I cried and I embraced it all. It was a ride I will never forget, and it always reminds me that being an entrepreneur certainly has its ups and downs.

Louis Stack

Fitness Balls

When you sit on a ball, gravity insists that you sit up straight because it is too much work to do anything else. You are on a sphere and to stay balanced you have to adjust and stabilize your trunk around the neutral position. It is not a conscious thing because the body will do it by itself and over time your movements become much more efficient with gravity. This continual movement helps you develop proper usage of all your stabilizing and neutralizing muscles in the lower lumbar and pelvic regions. This is important because these are the regions most people get back pain and where most tend not to move because they are static, sitting in a chair.

Improvement of dynamic stability is more important to muscle strength than anything else because it allows you to use the muscle strength you have more efficiently. Machines have your muscles working in isolation. It is far better to train your body in integration – integrating a bunch of muscles in patterns similar to the way they work in real life.

Balance Training?

Balance training is not another fad. It is a whole philosophy of making minor changes in your daily life for profound long-term differences that carry over to enhance the quality of your daily living.

Daily balance training will enhance your quality of life through improved confidence, agility, performance in sports and daily living. This in turn will help assure that the later years will be some of the best years of your life.

Thoughts on Wobble Boards

Standing on a Wobble Board works the body through integrated movement pattern’s much like sitting on a ball. The main difference is that when you are standing on the unstable surface you are involving all the body’s joints and muscles from the feet up. The whole process is a journey, not a destination. The gains come from frequent exposure to functional training in small to medium doses.

The best combination is to introduce a ball or a wobble board to your daily life as it already is. Either in your office, home or if you workout regularly, use an unstable surface for your shoulder fly’s, arm curls or other upper or lower body exercises where you can safely integrate functional stability as part of the exercise. But remember the weight load should be much lighter as you will be recruiting a wide variety of postural and stabilization muscle networks that you do not usually incorporate into your workout.

The Most Important Piece of Exercise Equipment

People often ask me what is the most important piece of exercise equipment they could own. I repond with a question: Where are you in your personal health now, and where would you like to be?

‘I do not exercise, but I really need to start” and “I work out at the gym but would like to do more at home” are the most common answers. My response is consistent: the most important tool is a quality exercise ball. Sit on it at dinner or watching TV, stretch on it, play with it. The key is when you use it you will start to re-learn the all important engagement of your core muscles or inner unit. If you cannot stabilize your core before you do any other movement, then you have a high risk of injury doing movements that are intended to get you healthy.

Bottom line is that a firm, properly sized ball should be in every home. And if body sizes vary, then you will need more than one. The more you use an exercise ball chair the better you will be able to engage core stabilizers and improve your balance. Balls are fun, challenging, and they tend to make you smile. We have no less than 5 balls around our average size home. They are always available to help keep us all happier, healthier and smiling.

Fitter’s First Ride on the Closed Chain Train

Flying home from APTA PPS (Private Practice Physical Therapist) I chose to review some of my past notes to see what might trigger my interests for a blog entry. I came across a piece I wrote that links my current trip to a similar trip in the late 1980’s, returning from another APTA meeting (I figure I have attended over 50 PT meetings, including World Congresses; London 1991, Vancouver 2007).

It has been 22 years since we built the first Pro Fitter and hit the road to show Physical Therapists (www.APTA.org) and Athletic Trainers (www.NATA.org) the value of what I then called “Total Body Training – for the Mind and the Body”. Early in my journey, when many folks thought I was a little off course with my short shorts and risky balance trainer “Pro Fitter“, I had the good fortune of meeting Gary Gray PT. Gary was watching the roots of the PT profession being challenged, as it was the work of the therapist and not the printed output from a Cybex or Kincom computer that would help people return to an active lifestyle after an injury. Now known as the “Father of Functional Fitness”, Gary was presenting a better approach called “Closed Kinetic Chain Training” long before many rehab specialists realized the pendulum was shifting. Thank you Gary for speaking out when you saw the industry appeared to be straying off course. www.grayinstitute.com

We have all learned a lot in the past 22 years. Athletes and Rehab centers practice Closed Chain Functional movement patterns in most programs as this approach to recovery has generally proven to be the most effective at getting folks back to active living. In future blogs I will share my thoughts and experiences on how functional training products like the Exercise Ball Chair, Active Sitting Disc and Balance Boards can be used to prevent injuries and enhance your daily quality of life. Remember “Balance is the essence of movement, and Movement is the essence of life.” Lose it and it is very tough to get it back!

Balance at Sea – Extra Benefit of Cruising

I am in flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Calgary after spending a much needed week away from work. It was great to be out of the office yet I truly miss my kids. My wife Marg and myself completed 3 Chek Institute courses and saw 4 small islands in 7 days. A rest? No. A change? Yes.

With interest I watched a lot of different aged individuals on this ship of 2,000 people. What I noticed was that the older folks who were often of lower level mobility and stability seemed to manage well considering how rolling some of the waters in the Atlantic were. I suspect one of the many benefits mature adults gain during and after a week cruising is improved proprioceptive awareness. After 7 days at sea these less active folks would get back to land and would feel rejuvenated after a week of passive neuromuscular stimulation and core muscle recruitment.

Of course there are the beaches, parties and a host of social functions, but the functional integration their bodies enjoy while adapting to the ebbs and flows of the ship would stay with them long after they returned home. So I suspect warm weather, new friends and a super stimulated core would have a healthy carry-over long after the trip was over.

I guess if a cruise is not in the budget, daily use of a balance board would also be of value, however my message today is there is a lot to learn from taking a week at sea for folks of all ages. And should you be thinking of encouraging folks between their 50’s to 90’s to be taking one soon, it is nice to know that there are more health benefits than you might have bargained for.

-Louis

P.S. Watch the endless food as that could be an off setting factor!