ELDOA

Feb 24 2015

How Did This Renaissance Man Change His Life?

Personal Training Success Story: Roberto Codato

I met Roberto when I first came to Santa Fe and was teaching my class at BODY. He came a handful of times, and after I changed my format and moved to Railyard Fit (formally Buddha Fitness Club) I didn’t see him for about four months.

Roberto had some challenging injuries from some severe accidents, and he was looking to finally correct most of these issues. He was a dedicated yoga practitioner and was always serious about his health.

When he contacted me about rejoining the classes in the new format, I told him it would take about a year for him to get permanent results because of the severity of his injuries and how long he’d had them. He didn’t even blink and has been a steady, hardworking and positive influence in the classes ever since.

I am happy to say that in the year he has been in the Posture Perfect class he has corrected 99% of his injuries and now has the tools to keep them corrected.

Roberto will be out of the country for a while pursuing some amazing opportunities. Congratulate him and wish him well!

Below is my interview with him on his personal training success:

What made you decide you wanted or needed to start a program?
My body was a wreck! I had been in two major car crashes and had gotten Lyme disease. I had done a lot of other modalities and had gotten decent results, but none of them really integrated the whole body like your program.

When I first read about your classes and their structure, they sounded perfect for me. And then when I first took the class I instantly knew that this was what I had been looking for. It took me a little bit of time to commit to the class because I needed to get my life in order and wanted to make this a permanent thing is my life.

What did you try before the SolCore Fitness custom-built exercise program?

Everything! No joke. Martial arts, yoga for about 20 years, kettle bells, body building, gymnastics, raw diets, macrobiotic diets, chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncture, massage therapists—and that is just the surface. I tried a lot of really esoteric modalities. And I got some good results. I got rid of my Lyme disease with a raw diet and Bikram Yoga. I gained a lot of muscle through body building. But it never totally addressed my physical issues and in some cases made it worse. Like I said, none of it was as intricate and as integrated as your program, and that is what I needed. [Note: Roberto worked with and studied under some really high-level people. For martial arts he studied under David Carradine’s teacher. Yeah, Cane! He went so deep into yoga that Bikram asked him to be a teacher. Yeah, that Bikram!]

What results have you achieved since starting your program and are proud of?

First and foremost it has brought consistency to my life. I do a lot for work and for life and it has brought a consistent, positive presence. I look forward to SolCore Fitness’s Posture Perfect class! And as challenging as it is on multiple levels, I always feel better afterward and so much more accomplished. I move so much better now than I have since my accidents. My awareness of my body not only in class but more importantly in everyday life is so much more improved. I sleep better. My digestion is much better.

Do you have a favorite exercise? Least favorite? What do you like or don’t like about them?

I really don’t like the wall stretch (L5-S1 ELDOA). You are lying there and you expect that you are going to be supported by the floor and the wall, but you’re really not. It is very challenging to me. I really like the 90/90/90 (Obturator internus myofascial stretch) because it was really hard for me and I thought there was no way I was going to be able to do it. But now I can get in and out of it pretty easy and it always feels really good when I am done.

What are some challenges or goals you are currently working on?

Tight hips. But I guess that is just the reality of how we live our lives now. Always sitting in front of a computer. Stress is a big one for me, and recommitting to myself each day.

What do you like best about our program and having a trainer?

YOU! [You realize I totally paid him to say that, right?] You are very engaging and you keep the class fun and light. It is challenging at times, but keeping it fun really helps. There are also a lot of really interesting people in class who are working through their own things. They really inspire me to keep going.

What advice would you give to the other SolCore Fitness members?

Appreciate what you have in this program. There are only a couple of places in the States where you can get this kind of training. The others off the top of my head are New York, Dallas and L.A.

What would you say to someone on the fence about joining our program?

Sit down and take stock of your life and see what is working and what is not. Organize your life, decide what is important and write down where you want to be in a year—not in a New Year’s resolution kind of way, but real goals. This program works like nothing else. Commit yourself for at least a year. The first three months is like an introduction to your body. You get some good results, you start to feel better, your body starts to become more aware, but it is just the beginning to how good your body can feel if you commit to yourself.
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Jul 28 2014

What is a corrective exercise?

Just because it is called a corrective exercises does not mean that it is doing you any good!

Corrective exercise has turned into a term that many people use to describe movements that they think are beneficial to them but in actuality, they are not. Corrective exercise is right up there with “functional training,” “yoga therapy,” and “restorative yoga.” It is not what you call something that produces you the results that you desire, it is how they affect the tensegrity (balance) and bio-mechanical (movements) motions of your body.

A real corrective exercise will normalize (correct) an area of your body that is in essence “not doing its job!”

Lets take for example, the exercise: the “prone cobra” also called the Mckenzie press. It has been used for years, and in the case of yoga A LOT of years, to mobilize and strengthen the spine. For those of you who are not familiar with this stretch, it is when you lay down, on your stomach (prone) and you come up to either your forearms or your hands pushing your upper body up leaving your lower body on the ground. There are some slight differences depending of those who you talk to as whether or not the hips stay on the ground. For this example, it’s not important. The idea is that when you push yourself up, it will open the anterior (front) of your spinal joints and the disc will slide forward. And if you have enough space in your spine, then this is true…

Now, let’s look at how the body reacts to a motion like this. In the prone cobra, when you push yourself up your spine goes into extension (like if you were standing up and you arched your back) and now based on spinal mechanics the posterior (back) part of the spine pinches together.

So how is this a corrective exercise?

In short, this is NOT a corrective exercise! Most people who are performing this exercise have back pain, and are thinking that this will help. Now there a lot of reason why one could have back pain but for this example, let’s stick to just one. Gravity is constantly compressing us, and combined with too much sitting and not enough proper movements, causes improper loading and our spine takes the brunt of it. Many individuals have disc compression and they may not have any symptoms….yet, and for those individuals over the age of 50- they can almost guarantee that they too have disk compression, some degree of bulge/herniation/prolapse.

Now while have some disc compression and doing the prone cobra exercise, your spine is forced into extension and the posterior (back) part of the vertabrae is going to pinch the posterior (back) part of your disc even more. This will lead to further bulging/herniation/prolapse and cause a lot more back issues and pain.

So what is actually a corrective exercise for this?

As I stated at the beginning, a corrective exercise will correct and normalize a problem. When it comes to back pain and spinal compression….The #1….hands down…. best corrective exercise are ELDOA‘s. They are “stretch exercises” that pull one vertebrata away from another, providing much needed space. This space now allows your body to start to function better within that area. This means that your discs will now be able to start to rehydrate and regain their form and volume. Without compression, you will have SIGNIFICANTLY less pain. This means that you can start to live you life with more confidence in your body and be able to do the activities that you want to do.