Long Lazy Loaded = L3

Why walk everyday?

Why walk with a load?

Why lazy?

I get these questions everyday when I tell people before starting a fitness program start with

1. Stress, Sleep/rest/recovery
2. Nutrition
3. L3, long lazy, loaded.

Do this for 30 days, unless you are already reasonably active then add some smart training. Either way it is really important to get in a L3 walk in everyday.

1. Recovery
   1. joints
   2. swelling
   3. mental recovery
   4. hormones
2. Spine and pelvic floor integrity.
3. Bone Density
4. Low level movement increases more than I want to get into here just try it.

What we are generally seeing in society is the inability to control hips/pelvic floor, spinal deviation (what we want is too not let it deviate) and thoracic integration/mobility/stability.

I also see a slew of PTs, trainers, Chiros, MD's, Yoga Teacher, Massage Therapists tell people to stand up straight, tuck your pelvis this way etc.

Lets start this with, look at a fat person an obese person, and what do you notice.

1. They are strong
2. They have great posture
3. They have pretty good flexibility.

Why?

The load they are carrying requires stabilizer to stabilize and movers to move. The weight is too heavy to allow for bad spinal alignment or it HURTS! The weight requires good pelvic floor integration just to get up and down out of a chair/car etc. Fat folks have better nervous system organization meaning that their nervous systems are more efficient at telling everything when, where, and how much to fire.

Now, I don't recommend that we all get fat. What I recommend is to put on an even load and wander around. Try sitting at your desk with a weight vest and watch what happens to your posture. It is very hard to have bad posture with a weight vest on.

Start with 10% body weight and just do a lazy loaded walk for between 30 min and an hour. MELLOW, don't get all psycho and load it with 40# then speed walk or run 5 miles. This is low level cardio but more importantly is a a trunk/pelvic floor strengthener a posture fixer and a range of motion helper and teacher of the thoracic spine.

Why not carrying weight?

Carrying weight with bad shoulder and thoracic control means that you will not evenly load the spine. Also we want to load the spine father up the chain because we dont have poor movement patterns built in to loading the body top down. This means that it will be easier for the body find good movement patterns because there are fewer bad ones that have been wired into the system.

Why not a backpack?

A back pack loads the system on one side and we are looking for an integrated system that is being taught how to load evenly.

Both of these things carrying a backpack and carrying weight are important skills but they serve other purposes. We are trying to get the spine stable, strong, and know how to evenly compress to protect itself.

Lastly, look at the spines of folks that have to walk carrying a load everyday. Look at someone who carries a backpack and then look at some person carrying a load on top of there head. People carrying loads on their head have better spines and hips. However, I don't recommend getting a weighted head basket or helmet and start rolling around. A weight vest will do just fine.

some places to get them

High price versions 

http://www.mirweightedvest.com/

http://www.weightvest.com/Pages/Petite.html

lower cost versions are available at local sports retailers and if they are under 15# and under $50 then they are fine. Just look at them and try them on. Make sure they are comfy. 2 of the better low cost ones  are the "gofit" 10# and the Cathe neoprene version. We have found multiple Cathe vests at Ross for $20. 

Men at weightvest.com the womens petite is fine. I am 210 6'2 and I stole my womans because I can get my hands over head without material in the way of my shoulders.