Yesterday, I saw a thing of beauty. I saw a sea of people sitting in stiff, awkward postures awaiting their flights. This was NOT the thing of beauty. I saw this sea’s antithesis: 2 teenagers, who had fashioned a tennis court out of items from their luggage. They had drawn a line with shirts, and they used their shoes as rackets to play makeshift tennis. I thought: “THIS is what heaven looks like.” Fitness isn’t … Read more
You will get better in 10 visits. You can’t squat with bad knees. You have bone spurs, so your mobility will be compromised. You’re damaged, so you have an excuse. What bull. I call the bluff. I want to know where these doctors got their crystal balls and their judgment calls. This has established a habit in my patients of expectations from the doctor, instead of themselves. All day, every day I hear this: “How … Read more
Last night on the subway, an entrepreneurial fellow said this: “Your haters can’t stop you. Jealousy is a sin. Keep doing your thing.” He was a deus ex machina, reminding me to stay my course. I needed it, because yesterday kept kicking me in the teeth. Kick #1: A colleague attempted to make me feel small and unaccomplished because I don’t do research. Kick #2: A student attempted to make me feel small because I … Read more
While getting a physical examination, the nurse took my blood pressure: 107/70. Sound good? It’s a little too low. The nurse said, “Okay, blood pressure is fine.” Again – this is a little too low. Since the exam, I have been working to make sure I have proper electrolyte balance and fluid intake. Most people are making sure the numbers don’t exceed the currently established norm of 120/80 (140/90 used to be normal but is … Read more
I never feel in competition with the people in my field. This can make one a “dangerous” competitor: the fact you don’t feel there is even a competition. You don’t have to be smarter. You don’t have to be more talented. You don’t have to be more beautiful. I’m living proof. You need to help more than you need things to be transactional. You need to make the tough calls and give the real talk. … Read more
At the NKT Level I seminar last week, Soon-to-be Dr. Joel Ardner and I were discussing squat mechanics after giving and NKT correction. We noticed a seminar attendee jutting the chin on the bottom of squat, limiting the depth and creating spinal functional instability to elevate from the squat. Check out this trick, borrowed from the great Mark Rippetoe, on why the neck must stay packed in squatting to full depth. – Dr. Kathy Dooley
I overheard a student say this yesterday: “The things I get wrong are sometimes the only things I remember.” This was such a brilliant observation. We learn by failure, yet we rarely reward failure. We chase the “A.” I used to be that type of student -chasing my A. To be honest, I still tend towards getting them. What I know for sure is this: the most I’ve ever learned has been from the things … Read more
So, last night I had a rough night. All I could think on repeat was this: Cancer sucks. I thought about his pain, and how helpless i was to ease it. I thought about how I might be the only daughter who’s husband and children my father may never know. So that it wouldn’t knock me over with pain, I voiced this to my best friend, David. David reminded me of things my grief wouldn’t … Read more
I am asked daily about supplementation. Having worked for GNC in my early 20s, I am well-versed on every supplement known to man This much I know is true: Very little supplementation – or medication- has solid evidentiary support for its efficacy. More simply put – no one knows if it works. It might just be subjective – or relative. I know this much: I used to eat 6 small meals day and take fists … Read more
Last week, I found out my dad was really sick. Feeling depressed, I used this as an excuse to skip my Reifkind press drills and plugged away at my work. I de-pressed. My goal of a 24 kilo press seemed so far away, and sickness feels completely in the here and now. Then I got to thinking about the word “depression.” The lack of pressing. The inability to push forward. I was de-pressing, and I … Read more