Beyul Training

The other night I was watching The Biggest Loser with my wife and for some reason I always watch it even though I end up wincing at the practice of taking deconditioned individuals and beating them down into a cardio hell.

On this particular night what I saw had to rank up there as an all time bonehead moment. The “expert” Bob Harper decided to take a man with limited knee mobility and place him on a bosu ball. I have NEVER been a fan of these things, but some believe they activate more of the core during a workout and increase your kinesthetic sense by making a movement more demanding.

Fine, if you want to take a healthy athlete and place them on a bosu ball go for it, I just won’t be the one doing it.

The problem with the Biggest Loser scenario is that the athlete had limited mobility & chronic knee pain. The trainer decided to take that athlete and place him on an unstable surface, and then have them do a PARTIAL squat.

A partial squat puts additional torque on the knee when you have to make the transition from the downward motion to the upward motion. When a FULL squat is performed, with activation of the hamstrings, glutes, and abductors, the negative stress during that transitional period goes on those muscle groups. What would you rather have stress on the knees of an athlete with chronic knee problems, or stress on large muscle groups such as the hamstrings, glutes and abductors?

On top of it all, Bob stood in front of his client to provide support. So, he asked the man to perform a partial squat, on an unbalanced surface, and gave him a que to LEAN FORWARD. Leaning forward will only pop the knee forward and put even more stress on the joint.

I don’t want to sit on a soap box because trainers all make mistakes and we do what we think is best for clients based on the knowledge we have. I just have a feeling that in this instance the work that was being done by the client was for the camera and not for the sake of their health.

Maybe I will just give in and go hop on a treadmill for six hours, give myself some nasty adrenal fatigue, and buy myself a bosu ball and partial squat away my orthopedic health. Maybe I just need a soy non-fat latte to top everything off…

This is SO(Y) Healthy!