Best stretch for shoulder pain? (pic)

Do you have shoulder pain?

Shoulder pain can of course be caused by a variety of issues, but one very common cause is a tight posterior capsule.

You see, the rotator cuff muscles in the rear of your shoulder wrap around, and attach to the side of your upper arm, and control its rotational movement. When those muscles get tight, they will come down and forward and taper down, and almost push the shoulder forward. Over time, this leads to a chronic shortening and tightening of the posterior capsule.

This is bad news, because when you are in this tightened and shortened position, and then you go to lift a weight over your head, or even do something like a push up, you have increased opportunity to start pinching some structures in the shoulder.

SO – if you think this might be an issue for you – I suggest the shoulder stretch below.

This one is simple, but most people haven’t tried it.

And it’s one of the best stretches I know of for tight and painful shoulders:

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EAGLE ARMS STRETCH

– Start with the arms wide apart.
– Cross the arms in front of you cross the right arm under the left arm. (Do NOT ‘whip’ your arms ballistically into position – go slowly, safety first!)
– Try to bring your right arm back towards your right shoulder.
– BEGINNERS – stop here! (middle pic) – keep going if you want more stretch …
– If it is possible press the fingers of the right hand into the left palm.
– Attempt to bring the elbows to the height of the shoulders.
– The gaze should be in the seam of the two forearms.
– Try your best to draw the shoulder blades towards each other onto the upper back.

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If you have painful / tight shoulders, give the Eagle Arms Stretch a try each day for the next two weeks, and see the change you can create.

To your success! –

– Forest Vance
Master of Science, Human Movement
Certified Corrective Exercise Specialist
ForestVance.com

PS – For tight / painful shoulders, I also recommend you check this out.

REGENERATE is a simple recovery program, designed specifically for lifters and athletes.

It is a combination of yoga poses, static stretches, core exercises and more combined into simple sequences that take 3 to 6 minutes to do, that require no special equipment.

Not to mention, they will also help you reduce chronic pain, improve mobility / flexibility, and feel amazing!

Simple recovery for lifters and athletes

meet Tangerine DJ Meow$er$ Perez :)

Your attendance at our Charity Boot Camp this Saturday supports kitties in need like Tangerine DJ Meow$er$ Perez. Here is a message from his new owner!

In March 2016, we adopted “Tangie” now called “Tangerine DJ Meow$er$ Perez.” I fell immediately in love when I saw him online and we went into go visit him. He was absolutely terrified to leave his little carpet house in the area where he was staying. So terrified in fact that he had to be carried out by a volunteer in the carpet house to the meeting room. He did not want to leave that carpet house and was so scared that he was just hiding in every place possible. I was told that he was one of nine cats that was rescued from a hoarding house. I instantly adopted him because I knew he just needed a loving home.

Once I got him home, it was a rocky start learning to be re-potty trained and learning the rules like no jumping on the kitchen table. Now, the scared little cat I adopted is the most confident cat I have ever had. He walks right up to new people the moment they walk into the door! He loves to snuggle and play with his little brown mouse toy! He also greets me every time I come home from work. He is my perfect little love bug.

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Details and reserve your spot at this Saturday’s SPCA Charity Boot Camp at the link below:

https://forestvance.wufoo.com/forms/zfpzhsw14knac3/

Hope to see you there! –

– Forest and the FVT Team

Proper Tire Flip Technique (video) + OCR Group Reminder (4 spots left)

The tire flip is a great move for strength, conditioning, and power development.

It’s also one of the events in the Spartan Race.

But if you want to do it safely and effectively, you need to learn how to do it with proper technique.

See the video and breakdown below. We will also be working on this during our Spring FVT OCR Training (starts Monday, April 16th, 4 spots left, sign up here => http://nanacast.com/vp/10005846/).

To your success!

– Forest and the FVT Team

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Proper Tire Flip Technique

Get set up about a foot away from the fire, with the feet outside the hips and the body pressed against the tire.

Drive with the legs to get the tire off the ground, take a half step, then give it a knee with the other leg.

If you get the tire off the ground, but struggle to complete the flip – stop for a second, re-grip, and get things going again.

The key is being AGRESSIVE – drive the tire off the floor, keep it in motion, and knee it at just the right time.

Imagine this:

Imagine what you will feel like when you finally:

– get as lean as you want be
– get as strong as you want to be
– move and perform and be in the overall physical shape you want to be

Your clothes will fit better, and you will feel more confident.

You will have more fitness and strength and energy to do all the things you want to do, and to live a high-performance life.

And you will get compliments from all of your friends and family on how great you look!

Now, if you have not already reached these goals, I want you to just take a moment and reflect on why.

There are several possible reasons, but in working with thousands and thousands of people over the last 12 or so years as a coach, one of the most common is this:

Many times, people try to do it their own – without the help of a coach – and while you certainly CAN make progress that way, typically, you can only get so far.

So if you think having that accountability to make sure you show up, that extra push during your workouts, that person checking in to see how your meal planning is going … to be that trusted mentor and advisor in your fitness life that you know would do you so much good … I invite you to come and check out FVT!

We have a Charity Boot Camp event coming up on April 21st that is the perfect opportunity.

You can come out, donate as much or as little as you like, experience a workout, check out our facility, and meet us in person!

It’s an easy, win-win (you support a great cause), very low pressure way to test us out.

The ONLY catch us, we have 15 spots total available for the event. It is being held at our Pocket / Greenhaven location, and space is limited.

So if you want to attend, please sign up asap at the link below:

SPCA Charity Boot Camp

Look forward to seeing you there!

– Forest and the FVT Team

PS – In case you are wondering – the workout we are going to do will looking something (but not exactly) like this:

*Do as many reps as you can of each exercise in 40 seconds
*Rest for 20 seconds between moves
*Continue through the sequence, circuit-style, until you’ve completed all exercises
*Rest approx 60 seconds, repeat for a total of three rounds

KB goblet squat
push up
alternating step up on to plyo box
recline row
burpee

PPS – Check out the results some of our clients have gotten at the link below:

FVT Success Stories (watch the video at the top of the page)

Starting today’s message with a confession

Starting today’s message with a confession:

For YEARS, I had one or two energy drinks per day, along with a cup or two of coffee, and many days, also a caffeine-laden pre-workout drink.

I know! – it’s SO bad as I write this, and really think about it.

I honestly got into the habit back in the early days of my fitness career when I would get up at 430 or 5 am to start working with clients, and then would be in training sessions on and off throughout the day, often ’till 7 or 8 pm.

I usually wouldn’t get enough sleep, so I started relying on caffiene to get me through.

Even though my typical schedule has since improved considerably, we now have two small children (ages 1 and 3), so I’m still not ususally getting a full night of sleep 🙂

But I kind of came to a realization one day, and started thinking … are all of these stimulants and chemicals and who knows whatever else is in these things I’m consuming, improving my health, or degrading it?

My guess is that they were doing more harm than good.

So I decided to cut them out!

I did a week of NO coffee or energy drinks or pre-workout mixes … the first day or two was REALLY hard … but now, the difference is amazing.

My energy is not up and down thru the day like it used to be, I no longer feel DEPENDENT on these things like I used to (which I HATED), and I’m sure I am also benefiting in the long term from not ingesting unknown chemicals on a regular basis.

On the other hand, I still desire an occasional energy boost, and to improve my workouts.

So here is what I do, and what I recommend if you are looking to cut back as well:

– Have a small cup or two of high-quality coffee each day. (SMALL is key here – it amazes me how Americans need everything HUGE – food portions, cars, and coffee! – 5 ounces of high-quality coffee is plenty)
– Go with an herbal pre-workout supplement, like this one: Lost Empire Herbs Hercules Pre-Workout Formula

Lost Empire Herbs Hercules Pre-Workout Formula includes several ingredients to both give you energy before your workout and assist in recovery. It is all herbal and all natural, so you know that you are not doing harm to your body. And you can trust in the high quality of the Lost Empire Herbs supplement line.

Lost Empire Herbs Hercules Pre-Workout Formula

To sum up, if you are highly depended on caffiene like I was, try taking a break, and/or trying the alternatives suggested in this article. I think you may be pleasantly surprised at the results!!

To your success! –

– Forest Vance
Master of Science, Human Movement
Certified Personal Trainer
ForestVance.com

As a man over 40, there’s ONE herb which could change your life in as little as a few days

As a man over 40, there’s ONE herb which could change your life in as little as a few days.

… especially if your testosterone and hormones have plummeted.

… especially if your energy levels have dropped and you have trouble getting through each day without coffee or some stimulant.

… and especially if your mojo and passion for life have disappeared.

TONGKAT ALI

Eric Harris says:

“Took about 4 days to feel any affect…

Once it came on, it came on strong !!!

Best way for me to describe it:

Oh hell, it feels like a brick, a stone, a rock and so on.

You get the message! Just be careful, don’t get carried away.

Which is very easy to do, enjoy “

Here is the thing – this herb has been PROVEN to boost T levels by up to 440% (and increased 62% of men’s T levels in human studies).

It fights androgen deficiency by increasing your testosterone production through steroidogenesis. This helps you NATURALLY restore your hormones . . . without TRT.

And you’ll rediscover your MOJO and passion for life FAST (once your T levels come back to normal).

Get it while supplies last at the link below:

=> Click Here To Boost Your T Fast With Tongkat Ali

To your new mojo and zest for life!

– Forest Vance
Master of Science, Human Movement
Certified Personal Trainer
ForestVance.com

PS – I highly recommend the Lost Empire Herbs Tongkat. I recommend their herbs frequently – as you probably know … there are hundreds of FVT Newsletter / Blog readers that have ordered their products over the last few years, the vast majority love them and are now regular customers.

OCR “Domination” Workout [sample]

The Spartan race we did at Sqaw Valley in Lake Tahoe last year was an unforgettable experience.

I hesitate to call it “fun” – because it was a SERIOUS challenge of the body, mind, and spirit –

But it is such a great feeling to train and prepare for such an event, and then complete it successfully.

The entire group of what was I believe 8 or 9 of us finished, and finished strong.

And I think it was largely due to the 12 week program we did leading up to it, using workouts like the sample below:

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*SACTO LOCALS – sign up here for our next in-person OCR prep program, starting April 16th

*SELF GUIDED TRAINING PLAN – get my OCR Domination program here

OCR “Domination” Workout [sample]

100 Secs Jump Rope (for conditioning)
– 20 Sec rest
100 Secs Bear Crawls (great practice / prep for the variety of crawling done during the events)
– 20 Sec rest
100 Secs Step Ups (more conditioning)
– 20 Sec rest
100 Secs Pull Ups (SO many of the obstacles require pulling strength and grip strength – working on it is CRITICAL to success)
– 20 Sec rest
100 Secs Jumping Jacks (even more conditioning)
– 20 Sec rest
100 Secs Carries (tons of carries in the Spartan – from sandbags to Atlas stones to buckets full of gravel – this is critical to practice too)
– 20 Sec rest
100 Secs Running (even MORE conditioning)
– 20 Sec rest
100 Secs Burpees (you end up doing 30 burpees for any obstacle you miss – so you better be ready!)
– 20 Sec rest

Complete 2-3 rounds total

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If this reading this has given you that feeling in your gut, like – “I gotta do one of these things!” –

I highly encourage you to take on the challenge. You will get better physically and mentally as a result.

BUT – and I say this from personal experience, having not really trained seriously for my first one, and getting burned – YOU MUST BE PREPARED.

SACTO LOCALS – sign up here for our next in-person OCR prep program, starting April 16th.

SELF GUIDED TRAINING PLAN – get my OCR Domination program here.

To your OCR success! –

– Forest Vance
Master of Science, Human Movement
Certified Personal Trainer
ForestVance.com

SPCA Charity Boot Camp – Sat, April 21st, 9am @ FVT Pocket / Greenhaven

We are hosting a Charity Boot Camp Saturday, April 21st @ 9am at our Pocket / Greenhaven location.

This is a full 45 minute FVT boot camp workout, specifically for:

– Current clients who want to come out, get great workout in, and support the cause
– Friends, family members, and co-workers of current clients who want to come out, get great workout in, and support the cause
– Past who want to come out, get great workout in, and support the cause
– Anyone who wants to support the SPCA and try a workout at FVT

However, BECAUSE we are hosting this event at our Pocket / Greenhaven location (full address – 7485 Rush River Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95831), SPACE WILL BE LIMITED. We can fit 15 people MAX at the space for a training session there.

So if you would like to attend, you MUST reserve a spot ahead of time, using the link below. Spots at the workout will be first come, first serve. Do so by clicking the link below, filling out the form with your name, email, and phone, and then following the link (you’ll get this after registering your spot) to the donation page to make your contribution:

SPCA Charity Boot Camp – Sat, April 21st, 9am @ FVT Pocket / Greenhaven

Look forward to seeing you there!

– Forest and the FVT Team

PS – Proceeds towards this event support Team FVT at the 2018 Doggy Dash! If you would like to join us for the event itself, let us know next time you are at the studio, all are welcome 🙂

More info on the event at the link below:

https://www.classy.org/fundraiser/1363219