Usually my favorite place for the kids to exercise is outside.  There’s nothing like running around, climbing on the jungle gym at the local playground, or just enjoying a walk on a beautiful day in the  fresh air and sunshine to fulfill your children’s daily recommended allowance of exercise.  But how about those dull, rainy days when the kids are cooped up indoors?  For some reason, indoor activities always seem to lend themselves to sedentary type things, like: video games, watching tv, surfing the Internet, playing cards or boardgames, and reading (although my kids …

As a teacher and student of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, I often hear the same question over and over again - how can I improve my skill?  What should I practice to get better?  Since I remember myself asking that question several times (probably several hundred times if you ask some people!) to my teacher and seniors in the art, I always take time to give a thoughtful and honest answer.  And, my answer to these sincere seekers is always the same  – practice the basics. 
Basic Does NOT Equal Simple 
I think maybe the term “basic” …

As promised in my previous post, So Ya Wanna Be a Ninja, here is an example strength endurance workout to start you on the way to building ninja-like endurance.  We will work the upper body, core, and lower body for a complete, whole body workout.  The goal of this type of training is to improve the body’s general endurance capacity so as to increase our overall resistance to fatigue.  This will enable you to train longer, harder, and more frequently, as well as improving your ability to recover between training sessions …

Looking for a quick and easy meal that’s healthy too? Try this delicious recipe for a shake full of protein, healthy fats, and antioxidants!

If you have been keeping up with the latest trends in conditioning research then you probably already know that interval training is the most efficient way to train.  Interval training alternates periods of high intensity exercise with periods of rest to produce gains in both aerobic and anaerobic systems.  Forget about those long slow distance runs to improve aerobic fitness!
The Body’s 3 Energy Systems
To briefly summarize, the body has three energy systems, 2 anaerobic, or non-oxidative, and 1 aerobic, that serve to create ATP (adenosine triphosphate).  ATP is utilized by every cell in …