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Discover the latest developments in optimizing whole body strength and flexibility to enhance any sport or activity injury free. "Column-core" training forges optimal bodies using column directed band resistance to activate "deep core" muscles that other training methods fail to switch. An additional primary benefit is the quick and effective restoration of injuries and prevention of future injuries. Learn about how column guided training begins building a new "internal muscle map" that allows athletes to "feel" what proper arm, leg, and trunk muscle activation is when the spine actually provides and non-moving column platform. The more time you spend on developing effectively you develop your "column core", the faster and stronger you will become even if your favorite sport or /activity requires some spine motion.

Learn Find out why so many top college and high school coaches use depend on the Kaehler Core as a key part of their weekly training that to keeps their athlete's out of the "trainer's room" and at peak performance levels. The Kaehler Core has helped thousands of athletes develop their optimal bodies and reach personal performance goals injury free.

Return to sporting life from chronic low back pain.

John Yoffee ran into chronic low back pain that started eliminating more and more of his sports and daily activities. Article is below.
How Ivy Rehab Physical Therapy Patient John Yoffee Discovered a Pain-Free Life
His symptoms continued to get worse to the point where even sitting was painful after a few minutes. He basically had to stop doing everything because it caused pain. John is no different than anyone else I have ever worked with. His pain and dysfunction came on from how he has used his spine to move. It is the system Nature started him, and everyone on the planet, out using. We all use the same movement method as infants. We all start out with all the body flexibility without control. So we all crawl, roll, press-up, sit-up, etc. until we build enough mobility control to finally be able to stand. We all continue to build our movement strength around this system I call “mobility control” or moving spine system. This mobility control system strengthens the body by having the spine move along with the extremities. This is where the spine moves out of its anatomical position to help move the arms and legs to move. Meaning we bend and rotate and side-bend the spine to help the arms and legs generate movement force. Once we build enough strength in this moving spine system we then have the ability to walk around 10 to 12 months into our movement journeys. John, like everyone I have ever worked with was a master at this movement system. He built his body strength around a moving spine system. This system worked until it didn’t. Eventually his overusing the spine to move the arms and legs caught up with him. That is why he came for help. John, like everyone else I work with needed to learn a new movement system to restore normal function for the rest of his life. Column-core training is that system. It is a “stability control” system or what I call column-core training. This system is the opposite of the mobility control system. We started teaching John how to begin to control his spine (T1 – Sacrum) instead of moving it along with the arms and legs. I taught him what it felt like when his spine did not move. He re-learned how to do basic movements like bridges, leg flexion exercises, side leg lifts, etc. As he gained the feeling the difference between when the spine moved along with the extremities versus when the spine did not move to assist the extremities he started to “feel” the muscle activation difference. Building this new skill, something he will use for the rest of his life, started him on the road to recovery. As he quickly built on this skill he started to better understand these new muscle activation feelings and then we got him on the Kaehler Core to enhance this column-core process. As with everyone I coach, once they get this new feeling map going, we build their movement skill library so they can return to doing all the things they once did. The best part of this process is they have it for the rest of their lives. John is back to skiing, running, and normal function. He also has his own Kaehler Core so he can keep this movement system sharp and strong. This column-core system needs to be embedded into everyone’s movement brain. Now he trains his column-core strength as part of his regular training routine, just like his coach.

Sitting Posture

Working from home has increased dramatically since COVID and there has been an increase in posture injuries associated with extended sitting/standing time at the home office. Poor sitting spine posture does not really improve when moving to a standing desk. The best passive option would be to switch from sitting to standing about every 30 minutes. A better active solution would be to improve spine/trunk strength. The video shows a seated column guided pull-down exercise where the band tension is increasing as the hands drop towards the floor. This exercise builds solid isometric anterior trunk strength and improves sitting posture strength and endurance. This seated functional trunk stability exercise can help anybody improve spine posture while sitting or standing at work.

Squat posture

Squat posture: Video Link I almost always assess people with injuries by looking at their squat posture. This universal movement provides a lot of information about how people move their spine in relation to the arms and legs. I want to know what the spine is doing when the legs and arms are moving. In today’s video I change my arm position four times. I often have people hold a 10# weight in the first position as this helps me see what their ideal spine posture looks like during the squatting motion. As the arms move back towards the body in the next three positions I am looking at how their trunk position changes. Ideally it does not really change or is pretty close to the first test position. You can try this yourself. All you need is a camera and a vertical line to assess changes in trunk position during each test position. You can put a vertical strip of blue painters tape on a wall to serve as a vertical guide. The counter balance weight is a good way to start learning what your trunk should feel like. I also use resistance bands to help build this better spine posture. I will discuss this further in a future post. Getting your squat spine posture correct is a great way to start moving better. Once you begin to feel the ideal muscle activation as you squat with spine control, you can then take this new skill into other training postures (biking, rowing, running, etc.). This column-core process preserves the spine and makes the arms and legs do all the moving work.

Straight Spine Sit-Up

Keeping the spine fixed during a sit-up requires more strength and control. The longer the spine is the harder it is to control. In a standard sit-up people curl the spine which shortens the trunk lever. This reduces the workload. Keeping the spine fixed as a long lever, in your anatomical position, increases the challenge on the body. Building spine control and strength is the key to reducing or eliminating training related injuries. The more time you spend training your spine to be a controlling system vs. a moving system the better your training results will be. I have helped hundreds of athletes to eliminate or prevent injuries by introducing them to my column core training system.

Improving Your Rowing Power and Reducing Back Injuries.

Great drill if you train on an RP3 or other rowing machine where the seat and feet both move relative to the trunk. Goal of this drill is to develop body control. The more trunk(spine) control you have the less the seat will move towards the stern (towards feet) at the finish. Seat control comes from the strength, power, and ability to stabilize the trunk (spine) throughout the rowing stroke. Weakness is shown when the seat slips into the stern at the finish. Spine slumping (C-shaped spine) is a weaker body position and it shows up as the seat drives into the stern at the finish (boat check). Spine control (as close to anatomical spine position as you have strength to handle). Try this drill and check out your trunk control. Anyone can build this skill once you understand how column core activation works and you begin building it. I will give you a hint: traditional weight training and planking don’t teach this skill.

Do you wake up most mornings with a stiff low back? Well you shouldn’t.

Assuming you don’t have moderate to severe lumbar disc degeneration (on x-ray or MRI) you shouldn’t really wake up with a stiff sore back. Even if you train at a high athletic level. After seven or eight hours of good sleep you should wake-up refreshed not stiff and sore. A stiff sore low back is evidence that you moved you low back too much the day before. Today’s video share some insights as to why and how to start eliminating that morning low back stiffness.

Runner’s Pulls

Gyms are temporarily closed with social distancing. I have witnessed a sudden increase in the number of people out running or walking in the open park spaces. Running is a great way to keep up your cardio-fitness, however ramping up too quickly can lead to injuries. This is especially true if you have not been running too much. Doing the right type of strength training can help keep you injury-free especially with a recent increase in weekly mileage. Today’s video -Runner’s pulls; this is a great exercise to improve your running strength that also helps reduce injury risk. Check out the video here to learn more.

Lunge Stretch – Column Core Method

Column core training is restorative fitness and targets weak and inflexible muscles in the arms and legs while simultaneously building a powerful non-moving spine. This is what I call real core work. Everyone who trains, at any level, can benefit by adding column core training to their regular fitness program. Keeping the body strong, flexible, and injury-free is a key point to stay fit. Today’s video shows a dynamic lunge stretch. Here the resistance on the handles is increasing as I lunge forward. Pushing through both hands eliminates trunk rotation and aggressively activates the abdominals which prevents to low back from arching or extending. This allows the hip flexors to get a maximal stretch without allowing the spine or pelvis to compensate.

Running into 2020!

Running into 2020! Trail running is now a favorite way to get my cardio done. I love being outside and the challenges of single track trail running, but it wasn’t always fun. The first few years of trail running I sprained my ankles multiple times and tried to resolve the problem using traditional physical therapy exercises which didn’t resolve the repeated ankle sprains (swelling and pain). But that all changed once I built and started training on the K-Core and I have not had one single ankle sprain over the past 8.5 years. Today’s video is one of a number of different running exercises I do about every seven to 10 days. The column directed resistance on the K-core keep my leg flexors really strong by connecting the moving arms and legs through a fixed spine which eliminated my chronic ankle problem as well as other issues [will get to those on another blog post]. If you are suffering from any recurring training related injuries that have failed to get better doing traditional treatment there is hope. I have helped hundreds of regular athletes restore whole body strength by having them implement the column core training system. So if you are committed to getting better and finding a long-term solution I would be glad to a quick phone call so you can learn more about this revolutionary training system and how it might fit into what you are doing now. No strings attached. Thanks for following and Happy New Year!

Building Hip Rotation Strength and Power

Hip rotation strength and power are essential in golf, throwing sports, mix martial arts, boxing, throwing, and many other sports or activities. In this “upper cut” exercise I am working on hip rotation, trunk, and arm strength and power. I am stabilizing the K-Core with the top hand and trunk/spine as I move the bottom arm and hips against increasing band resistance as my hands come together.