Joint Health And Athletics

In sports, at least in the modern age, training for the sport itself is a solid priority but we tend to forget about keeping the joints strong and focus more on the big muscles. Don't get me wrong, athletics are freaking awesome especially in areas like Baseball, Wrestling, Soccer and Basketball. Sure there's stretching, conditioning programs and solid use of weight training for specific sports that provide an athlete's ability to excel in his field. 

Keeping a solid level of conditioning and a healthy structure outperforms the ability to short bursts of energy and utilize muscles that aren't always trained the way they're meant to. Let me give you an example of two athletes from very different sports that challenged the norm to what the majority were doing in their day....

Rickey Henderson

The legendary outfielder mostly known to play for the Oakland Athletics wasn't just incredible at Stealing Bases, he was also awesome at the way he scored runs and the strategies used to make those runs happen. Beyond his stats, he was one of the few players of his generation to have a long and lasting career that lasted 25 years. From 1979-2003, he dominated areas of the game that we rarely or even will ever see again. 

He was a throwback to a time of the deadball era and the Negro Leagues where base stealing, bunting and scoring little by little was known more than knocking homeruns and driving in runs 3-4 at a time. His conditioning was uncommon among other players of his time, while many shifted towards the muscle building and juicing up during a period of hitting homeruns at a greater rate than before, he was one of the few that didn't get injured as often. 

He wasn't much of a lifter if at all and focused mainly on 4 distinctive exercises (or variations of ) such as push-ups, squats, sit-ups & sprints. Because of that foundation and understanding the aspects of realistic stretching and mobility work, he was extremely agile, fast, had reflexes that is even to this day would be considered superhuman. His joints in his prime were the pinnacle of what a healthy ball player should be and has an awesome physique that looked the part for his level of play. 

Herschel Walker

One of the most durable and highly conditioned athletes in the history of Football. He was doing things (and still does) back in the day that would consider him a freak of nature. Out of every maybe every 10 players in his time, he was in the small percentage of players that rarely got injured. His numbers in Push-ups & Sit-ups is just as legendary or even more so than his playing career. The man was a conditioning machine that puts him right up there if not at the top with guys like Walter Payton, Marcus Allen, Jerry Rice, Lawrence Taylor & Bo Jackson for athletic ability in the sport. 

Again, like Henderson, Walker knew and understood the aspects of Joint Health and Conditioning that gave him abilities that most athletes ever will achieve and knew that although great muscles can do great things for you, having joints and ligaments as strong as steel can help you stay in the game longer than most. Now, even though none of us will ever achieve what these guys did, we can however, take inspiration and ideas to make ourselves stronger and healthier than the average person.

The importance of having strong and healthy joints go beyond just doing exercises for mobility and little stretches, it'll make a huge differences in how strength from a long term and developing an injury-proof structure will play a role in our lives as we age. Most will never understand how in depth the significance and quality aspects of having healthy joints will do for them.

As we get older, having loads of muscle will become less important than the ability to just get up and move around without feeling pain and our bodies feeling less stiff. Yes we need muscles to move, but the joints and ligaments are the things that ties things together and give us that powerful shield to help us get around without hurting. We may not be as spry or springy as we were in our youth, but we can still learn to do things that will keep us out of a wheel chair or from not being able to get up and feel hopeless. We want to still do things that give us the quality of life we deserve, like playing with kids, play a sport, get up and down stairs, climb out of bed without pain, move gracefully and powerful at the same time. 

DVD Course On Joint Health By Lee Holden  

A Gift To Myself

 Happy Holidays everyone, hope you're getting what you need for the season and being with the people you love. Hope you get plenty of cool stuff for Xmas especially for the kids, I got my shopping done a while ago for really on the two people in my life, my mom and my wife. 

It has been a hard year more than most in recent times and still here, fighting and making the most of it. The problem is at times, I get so caught up with certain things that have affected me in ways I don't wish to discuss. This season did get a little harder since I lost a family member less than a week ago and although I wasn't close to him, he was still family and I hope his kids will be ok, I wish I can be with them especially one that is only a couple months younger than me and grieve with them. 

It's difficult at times coming to grips to how much of a rollercoaster this year has been and where I want to be along with where I feel most valued at. When it comes to online stuff, yeah I sell a few things here and there and share my knowledge of fitness in my own way but especially with all the ups and downs emotionally, I got caught up in arguments and put myself in situations where ball busting was just a little over the top. 

I signed up on a forum for the 4th or 5th time and left after one day (partially because I hated the name I put up) mainly because I thought if I just stick with sharing knowledge I'd be fine, but I wasn't. The majority of people on this forum just love to knock on me and ridicule me and put a bad taste in my mouth. They're not my friends, they're a lot older but most of the time don't have much value in the way of fitness because they don't really give a damn about grouping together and helping others, they're out for themselves and just have a place to let out their old man grumpiness along with busting each others balls. That's not the type of environment I want to associate with, I need to finally accept that. 

I' am very grateful for the positive things that are happening in my life and that in itself is a gift. The gift I feel I need to give myself is to trust more of my intuition, be aware of what I'm going into and do better as a person. That sounds like more than one gift but it's a tie in. This coming year will have many unexpected things but the end game is to have a greater attitude and bask in the things that do matter more than the trash that can swarm on you if you let it. Value what works and surround myself with people that lift me up more than letting in those that make me feel like I have no value to myself or others. One group I'm very thankful for is the Isometric Group I'm a part of on Facebook and how much those guys inspire me everyday to do what I love and that it is contributing to something. 

It isn't an ego thing to give a gift to yourself if you truly understand the concept of it. It doesn't have to be physical, it can be something comforting from an emotional and mental format that is meant for you. Although I believe in helping others as much as possible, we also need to make time for ourselves and reflect on the important things that keep us going and becoming better in the process. We are only human and can do so much before it consumes and overwhelms us. We need to learn to love ourselves as much as we love the people in our lives and what we love to do. This is the only life we have and each day should be a time to know that you still can do a little better and have greater attitudes towards yourself, your family, friends and your overall health. 

Don't be afraid to gift yourself and make it valuable to you and something that is important to help you on your journey. Have the most amazingly awesome holidays wherever you and if you're just by yourself, make it fun and something that makes you happy. I'm grateful for all of you and you have helped me learn things I continue to discover. 

Muscles Will Only Do So Much

 Being muscular can be a very tempting thing to achieve, especially if you love to work out. In the fitness world, muscles could do wonders for you. You may not become a Mr. Olympia or a Bikini Winner but you certainly can do great things when you built plenty of muscle, but where does the line draw? How do you achieve a level of muscle when many in the magazines, social media and even pictures on the Wall Of Fame could be photoshopped and the build is barely even real?

In reality, having muscles is only part of the real picture. Let's face it, muscles may look great but can they really do anything or at least anything that's worth more than just getting the pump from a curl or having less than 5% bodyfat? Muscles in retrospect should be useful and functional and not just a way to hook up with another human. However, as much as muscles can be great looking, the joints should be just as strong if not stronger because having strong ligaments can get you further in life or better yet, have a better quality of life. Very few people live long enough to still have quite a bit of muscle into their 50's, 60's and so on. 

Some people don't look like they have that much muscle on them but have crazy strong joints, tendons and ligaments and tend to look more wiry than burly. Same can be said with people who have solid muscle but have powerful joints to go with them. Both have their own debates on who's the strongest but in the end, the long term mentality should be maintaining health in both the joints and the muscles, not just one or the other. A muscular body won't last forever and it's not a very pleasant life if your joints are so out of shape or worse, develop problems early with arthritis, osteoporosis, bone disease and other ailments that affect the skeletal and tissues in the body. 

Many look down on exercises that loosen up the joints and just see them as warm ups or stupid exercises but the truth is, with the right training and understanding of "lubricating" the joints, they give you greater chances of not being injured or better yet prevent soreness and recover more efficiently. From your head down to your toes, find a good workout that gives you the opportunity to strengthen and loosen up the joints in your body that gives off energy and blood flow that feels really good. 

Here's one course that can give you plenty to work with but at the same time give you ideas as to what is possible to live a quality life and bask in the glory of having meaningful strength and fitness, not just building muscle. 

  Steve Maxwell's Joint Mobility DVD 

Different Styles Of Isometrics And Some Of Their Benefits

 Variations of different methods of fitness have their place for people and depending on their goals and what one is striving for, it doesn't have to be complicated. Isometrics in and of themselves can be very beneficial to other forms of exercise. Some try to associate Isometrics with Dynamic Tension as if they were the same thing. They're not. Now you can turn the exercises from Dynamic Tension into Isometrics by resisting at a specific spot and holding it there and contracting. 

Isometrics by definition is holding a position or contracting at a point where there is no movement and the more force used, the less time it is held. When you contract at lesser intensity, the exercise can be held longer which in turn can be called what the late Steve Justa coined Aerobic Isometrics. Isometrics overall, have incredible abilities to redefine the laws of strength. 

There are different styles of Isometrics that date back thousands of years and have been used by various athletes and everyday people all over the world. One of the most famous forms of Isometrics is Yoga, yes there is moving in certain positions but you also hold certain positions for a specific amount of time (depending on the style and the instructor). Yoga at the real depths of it, is extremely beneficial and has helped many people with developing flexibility and strength especially at an older age and reduces injuries. That doesn't mean all those that teach it are beneficial.

One style of Isometrics I've read a bit about and still trying to understand it is what's called Timed Static Contraction. This style some people love a lot especially those at an older age (40's, 50's and beyond) because you don't need to do a ton of exercises, only a handful (if that) will be more than enough. The idea is take an exercise and hold one position as you execute a contraction that lasts 30 seconds at 50% intensity, you continually up the intensity to about 70-75% for 30 seconds and than go as hard as you can for 30 seconds. So for 90 seconds, you up the intensity until that last bit and you're giving it everything you have. For the amount of exercises you can do, this can be incredibly exhausting and needs plenty of recovery time. Those who are experts at it like Steve Maxwell & Drew Baye don't do more than 1-2 times a week. I can agree to that. That kind of training can be very beneficial when it comes down to cardio without straining the joints, strength building and it can be done anywhere.

My personal favorite is the style of working contractions of no more than 7-12 seconds while working with multiple positions of a specific exercise such as curls, deadlifts, overhead presses and so on. This is what I started out with when I dove into Isometrics, first learning about them from Matt Furey's Gama Fitness program. It just evolved to a point where I can pin point just about about any angle I set my mind to and work exercises at multiple angles and get a hell of a cardio workout out of it plus I get more of the fat loss benefit from this style than any other for some reason. I can do these everyday and wouldn't burn out as much. This style has helped me stay injury-free the longest and it helps strengthen my legs especially my ankles. I've used it for arm wrestling, short workouts, steel bending, easy snow shoveling without the risk of getting a hernia, makes me feel lighter and stronger and so much more. 

One more for the road. This style of Isometrics was unique and not too well known because I think Steve Justa was one of a handful of people who practiced it and it's what's called Pulse Contracted Isometrics (think I just made that up) which you hold a position and work it hard by doing repeated reps at 1-2 seconds at a time. Steve did many many exercises with this at every single angle possible. The intensity is right around 90-95% but it's more a flicker than anything else. The benefits from this is that it works the little things in the muscles and tendons and ligaments at a more rapid rate and building strength that seems unexplainable. It also works the reflexes. The reps vary but Steve was doing something like 50 Reps or more per exercise or position and would total in the thousands by the end of the workout. I sometimes did 10-25 and after a few positions, I was smoked. I would research Steve Justa's books on this and see where it leads you. It may not look like much but when you practice it and go for 15-20 minutes, you're going to feel it. 

Try different things and see how they work for you. Isometrics give you strength you didn't know existed and is a "lost" secret to building the strongest tendons and ligaments possible because as we age, muscles are ok but if your tendons and ligaments are damaged or haven't done much conditioning, injuries will be much quicker to happen and it would be much harder to move around. It's a fascinating form of exercise and doesn't take up a lot of time. 

The Mystery Around Animal Exercises

 When you research Animal Movements or Animal Exercises, what pops up? Most likely you'll find ads, videos and various sequences of Animal Flow or Primal Movement. It's a popular trend and has tremendous benefits, hell I do them from time to time but what about the true and deep aspects of what animal movements are and how the came about. There isn't a whole lot written on them from that aspect.

It's a mystery on how we as humans really took to the animals and going from mimicking their behavior for hunting to becoming a recreational activity or purely for fitness. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure if you looked hard enough you'll find some cool stuff but it's still an enigma at times to why we have chosen animals as a fitness fad. One of the biggest known aspects of Animal Exercise or mirroring an animal is through ancient Kung Fu practices where men and women would mimic a wild animal and channel it to a fighting style and utilize it in a more graceful form of techniques and precise movement of jumps, kicks, punches and highly athletic counter techniques. 

Another outlook to Animal Movement is how we've taken certain animals and molded them to use warm up/punishment type exercises in athletics such as Football, Wrestling, Soccer and MMA. In and of themselves,. Animal Moves are more than just mere warmups and used as a punishment to keep an athlete in check. Now the idea of "Animal Movement" is not always just making up a name for a crawl, jump, hop and slither, there's something to mimicking an animal as humanly as we can without going overboard. It's true we can't exactly mirror an animal because the structure is different, the awareness is different and thinking we can be just as powerful as a wildcat, bear or a primate is way out of our league. 

Is there an answer to the mystery on why we love to mimic animals? It's very complicated but some might agree that as a species, we want to instinctively get back to nature but as far as evolution goes, some aspects of it has forced us to leave our animal like instincts and go through processes of becoming human in ways that is both good and bad. The cool thing is unlike other animals, we aren't just cut and dry to walk and have instincts of one specific animal, we have the ability to create and imitate many species to a certain extent. We'll never have their specific strengths and attributes but we can utilize what we can acquire to make the most of what is possible beyond other animals. 

The true kings and queens of exercise are the animals and it's important that we embrace the strength and conditioning of what is possible for a human to develop our bodies from a natural resource. You can lift the heaviest weights, do thousands of squats and pushups, do pull ups till the cows come home but nothing will take you down quicker and breathe hard like a madman like moving as a wild animal as humanly possible. Some people will argue that and think animal moves are just kid stuff, ok here's a test...What would be easier, 100 Squats or a 100 Yard Bear Crawl? After all, animal moves are just kid stuff right?