3 Things I Do Every Day for Recovery

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Jon

I’m looking at the calendar and this year is winding down quickly. I swear, once we hit September the whole thing just seems to fly by!

And, since this year has been crazy (to say the least) for most of the world, I won’t be sorry to see it go!

But before the year ends, I’ll be turning 49. And, I have to tell you – my training has gotten more intense this year, not less. I feel better and stronger at 49 than I did at 29!

I train hard, but it’s my recovery strategies that I perform every day without fail that allow me to train as hard as I do, and to keep getting stronger (and stay injury free) as I get older!!

I’ve heard it said that if exercise is king, then recovery is queen. However, you want to say it, the key is that your recovery must be equal to, or even greater than, your exercise.

Unless recovery is a priority you will NOT be able to sustain intense training as you get older.

Here are the 3 things I do every day to keep my body performing optimally…

Daily Mobility Training – If you saw my social media posts over the weekend, you know that I highly recommend daily mobility training to keep your body healthy, strong, and injury free. We not only want to have increased range of motion on all our joints as we age, we want to be able to move pain-free as well!

Here is my complete daily mobility routine <<==

Daily Breath Work – I’ve been studying breathing exercises for well over 20 years now and it’s something that I do every day to make sure I’m energized and healthy. The one greatest indicator of overall health and longevity is lung function – the greater lung capacity you have, the healthier and stronger you are! Breath is life.

My Evolve Your Breathing Program contains all you need to build lung capacity, increase energy, and create vital health. (also, you can get EYB for free when you pick up a copy of Shadow Strength) My qigong program, Vital Force is also an excellent reference for breath training and energy development.

Pine Pollen – I have been adding this to my morning glass of water and it has made a huge difference in aiding my recovery from intense training. While not absolutely necessary, I do find that it helps give me an edge in my training! Get Pine Pollen<<==

Why Body Skills are Critical to Martial Arts

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Jon

Body skills are the foundation of ALL martial and athletic movement.

In fact, in my mind, they are the foundation of all good, powerful, pain-free human movement!

What are body skills?

They are the qualities that connect, support, mobilize, and strengthen the body from the inside out. They create a highly resilient, dynamically stable body that underpins all other skill acquisition. In short, you want to get better at the specific skill sets within your martial art, quickly – train the body!

Learn how to develop high level body skills for martial art

The Trinity of Training for Health and Strength

The ancients who created yoga, qigong, and various systems of martial arts knew a thing or 2 about training the body as a whole, integrated unit and not a series of disparate parts.

In fact the word yoga means “to yolk” or to unite together.

Each separate system that came down to us from the ancient world had one thing in common no matter where they originated…

They all utilized breath, posture, and movement to create a balanced healthy body, energetic, and free from pain.

When you combine exercises using all 3 modalities you get a powerful synergistic effect on health and strength that modern methods lack.

Learn exactly how to unite all 3 here =>

Shadow Strength utilizes a proprietary set of exercises drawn from traditional martial arts and trained in a unique combination to skyrocket your internal strength, power, and resistance to injury.

Using breath, posture, and martial mobility, Shadow Strength breaks down the barriers to superhuman strength and an unbreakable body.

Learn more here =>> http://warriorfitness.org/shadow/

Daily Mobility Practice – The Fountain of Youth

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Jon

All movement skills, especially martial movement skills, must be built on a foundation of both stability and mobility. Today we will cover mobility.

A complete mobility practice moves each joint in the body through its complete range of motion bathing it in synovial fluid.

Movement is the only way your joints get nutrition!

Many trainers and coaches tend to look at the current rage of joint mobility protocols as recent innovations in sports science and training. Everyone is talking about mobility for health, mobility for prehab or injury prevention, mobility for warm-ups, mobility for fending off the ravages of aging. Everyone is talking about the benefits of increased range of motion for sport performance and martial art training enhancement. And, just to be perfectly clear, this is a good thing. They are all correct. Mobility training is the rage for a reason.

However, as with many “new” types of training methods, mobility work is an ancient idea come full circle.

This is not a new idea. In fact, Hua Tuo (2nd century AD), one of the patriarchs of Chinese Medicine and creator of the famous qigong set, The Five Animal Frolics, once said:

“Just as a door hinge will not rust if it is used, so the body will attain health by gently moving and exercising all of the limbs.”

Hua Tuo’s The Five Animal Frolics model movements from the crane, bear, monkey, tiger, and deer. Each animal emphasizes different health benefits and you can choose a specific animal for specific results. The movements form arcs, spirals, waves and spins, in order to accommodate all ranges of motion for the body.

Now what does that sound like?

Health by moving and exercising all the limbs… hmm… reminds me of a certain new exercise protocol called joint mobility. And this quote from Hua Tuo is just one example. There are many more within Chinese Medicine as well as Indian Yoga that all point to the same idea – mobility is essential for health. Or, more crudely but succinctly put, move it or lose it.

Each session can range from a quick 5-minute recharge to a 30-minute in-depth deep practice. It’s up to you and how your body feels on a particular day.

For example, did you do a ton of heavy lifting or a super intense metabolic conditioning session the day before?

Maybe a longer, deeper mobility session is required to aid in restoration and recovery.

Or, did you just get out of bed and maybe only have 5 minutes before you have to get ready for work? A 5-minute quick-n-dirty mobility session will charge you up and get your body moving (literally!).

Daily Practice

I have been performing my mobility practice almost every day for over 15 years now. However, there have been a few times when I decided to forego it for several days in a row just to see if I could notice a difference. After 3-4 days without it I began to notice. Muscles were tighter. Movements were less fluid. Joints were crunchy. When I finally stopped my no mobility experiment on day 5, the contrast was amazing!

In my experience, mobility training and breathing exercises are the biggest bang for your buck daily practices that will only reward you more and more with each passing year.

Benefits of Mobility Training

In no particular order, here are some of the benefits of mobility training:

Lubricates joints and allows them to receive nutrition through synovial fluid
Aids in removal of toxins
Reduces joint pain and inflammation
Increases range of motion (flexibility in motion)
Increases energy by reducing unconsciously held tension
Prehab for injury prevention
Mobility is foundation of all sport, athletic, and martial movement
Decreased mobility leads to increased pain and stiffness

For your daily training, here is my own personal full-body joint mobility routine. Implement this first thing tomorrow morning and feel amazing all day long!

Logan Christopher’s The Indestructible Body Review

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Jon

I have a confession to make…

I’m extremely jealous of Logan Christopher’s latest release, The Indestructible Body. Considering my personal emphasis on mobility, flexibility, strength training, and injury-proofing for myself and my students (clients), this is the kind of program I would have love to have written! The good news is that Logan has already done it, and done an outstanding job at putting the whole thing together.

Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

The Indestructible Body program is divided up into 6 component parts. It groups areas of the body into the broad categories of Indestructible Elbows, Wrists, and Fingers, Indestructible Feet and Ankles, Indestructible Hips and Knees, Indestructible Shoulders, Indestructible Spine and Neck, and the Indestructible Body Foundations.

There are literally dozens of exercises for rehabbing old injuries and remaining injury free by injury-proofing the body. When put together, the entire program will create a body-system wide reset that will have you feeling amazing and moving even better!

A Paradigm Shift

It’s time to shift your paradigm from a “normal” one to one of creating an Indestructible Body. Age or injury (or both!) do not have to lead to weakness, immobility, and infirmity. That’s simply the belief that most people choose to accept. Logan does not. I sure as hell do not. I believe that we can, and should, spend the requisite time moving, exercising, working our body to create an incredible vehicle that not only carries us from birth to death but perhaps, just perhaps, extends that life a little farther out and sure as hell improves the overall quality of it. All it takes is a few minutes several times a day, every day, to play, to move, to build a body that lasts. A body that can DO things. A body that is not constantly riddled with aches and pains. A body that bounces back. A body that becomes Indestructible.

If you are a martial artist, this program is for you!

If you are an athlete, this program is for you!

If you are a weekend warrior, this program is for you!

If you are military, law enforcement, or fire fighter, this program is for you!

If you workout regularly, this program is for you!

If you are a couch potato, this program is for you – you’ll thank me!

If you are a human being who wants an Indestructible Body, then this program is for you!!!

For more information on Logan’s Indestructible Body program, please click HERE <<====

Maintaining Preparedness

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Jon

Guest blog post by Combat Systema Instructor, David Rusin.

If you are like most people, you don’t have the luxury of spending hours each day in the training hall to prepare yourself for violent confrontation. So for the time we are able to spend in training, it is in our best interest to get the most out of the opportunities we have.

Fortunately, most people will not have to experience a violent encounter. But daily life imposes demands upon our bodies, too. So the question becomes, are there things that we can do in our training that will help keep us prepared for violent threats while also translating into a positive experience in our everyday lives?

Joint Health and Mobility

An aspect of physical life which has a direct and immediate impact on the quality of our experience, regardless of the activity, is the health of our joints. Because of this, joint mobility exercises should be an integral part of a training regimen.

As we age the only way we are able to properly nourish and lubricate our joints is to move them through their full range of motion. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “use it or lose it.” With regard to joint mobility, this statement is literally true. Neglect of any particular range of motion (ROM) in a joint can result in a loss of mobility in that joint over time.

Having access to the full range of motion within our joints provides for more options when dealing with a threat of any type. Limited mobility yields limited options. Therefore, it is paramount that training includes means to recover any lost mobility, and to maintain access to the full range of motion in our joints.

Movement in Combat Systema

Here is a practical example of this concept. In Combat Systema we consider two ways of responding to externally applied force – movement by part and movement by whole. Movement by part simply means that only the part of the body upon which force is applied will move in response to that force. Movement by whole means the entire body will move in response to applied force.

When moving by part, our structural stability begins to become compromised at the point at which maximum range of motion of the affected body part is reached. Thus, the greater mobility and joint function we have available to us, the more we are able to accommodate external force, moving by part, without having our structure compromised.

An effective means of recovering and maintaining full mobility in the joints is through the use of joint circles. This simply means moving each joint through a circular pattern at the maximum ROM to which you currently have access. Slow, smooth and controlled motion is best in order to remain relaxed and to be sensitive to any problem areas. Breathing should be coordinated with the movements, which also facilitates moving through areas of tension.

Movement through multiple planes simultaneously is more efficient than movement through a single plane. Therefore, a progression from joint circles to figure eight or helical movement patterns develops greater efficiency of motion while also contributing to healthy joints. These movements also have direct martial value, such as with evasions and strikes, so incorporating them into regular practice has multiple benefits.

Injuries can often occur when sudden, unexpected motion outside our normal ROM occurs. If you have ever stepped off a curb or stair, and had your ankle twisted, you’ll understand this concept. A sprain or other injury can occur if the joint is not accustomed to movement through the maximum range of motion. In a violent encounter, sudden movement outside normal range of motion is a distinct possibility. Thus, recovering and maintaining full ROM in all of our joints, and developing a level of comfort moving through extreme ranges of motion can help to keep our joints safe in any situation.

The benefits of healthy joints affect not only our daily life where most demands are imposed upon us on a regular basis, but also help to keep the body better prepared for dealing with threats. Simple movement patterns such as joint circles and figure eights can be incorporated at the beginning of a training session to warm the joints up for the session. Done regularly, these exercises can also help to maintain bodily preparedness when not in the training hall.

About the Author

David Rusin has studied various forms of martial arts for over two decades. For the last 13 years his primary training focus has been the study of Russian Martial Arts. During this time he has achieved instructor certifications in the ROSS Training System of Russian Martial Art under the tutelage of the American national ROSS Instructor Cadre, and more recently in Combat Systema under that system’s founder, Kevin Secours. He currently offers private and group instruction in Russian Martial Art near his home in Ocean Township, NJ. He can be reached via email at RMAinNJ@gmail.com

Healing Yourself With Mobility – Part 3

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Jon

Healing and Mobility Part 3 – Everyday healing of neck, vertigo, and surviving training mistakes with mobility

Guest blog post by Eric Guttmann, U.S. Navy Officer, Author, Fitness Enthusiast and More!

In everyday matters joint mobility also saves the day. If for some reason you sleep with a craned neck and you wake up with neck pain you can easily and quickly get rid of it or reduce it significantly before you even head out to work by doing joint mobility. I have done so on various occasions and believe me that it is better to work with a “little nagging pain” that goes away that day than endure the day with the kind of pain that makes you think about taking a pain killer or that seriously interferes with your quality of life.

Joint mobility also PROTECTS you by giving you a resilient body that can handle training mistakes a lot better. As an example I was in Cartagena, Colombia, (yes, the same city where the Secret Service got in trouble) with the Navy and I woke up early to do incline sprints on the 300 year old walled city. The particular incline I chose was made of cobblestones and had holes in it. On my second sprint up this incline I completely twisted my ankle 90 degrees. Because I had already warmed up my ankle to FULL mobility I was able to finish the sprint, and more importantly FINISH my workout like nothing had happened. In fact, when I came down to do another set of sprints after I twisted my ankle a local came to me and said to me in Spanish “I saw what had happened to your ankle” somewhat concerned for my ability to safely walk on back to the hotel. I simply laughed, shrugged it off, thanked him for his concern and FINISHED my work out by doing FOUR more sets of sprints. I know for a fact that if the same thing had happened to me in my college days I would have been done for, because the same thing DID happen to me when I was in track and field and it took three weeks to heal!

Joint mobility has also helped me with my wife. She had a case of vertigo a year ago and I taught her joint mobility, as the medicines the doctor gave her only made her feel worse. The joint mobility (and acupuncture I gave her) where the keys to her recovery. To this day she does the neck series everyday as a preventative and feels great every time she does it.

As I mentioned in my previous article, many of my friends I teach these drills comment on how their lower backs loosen up and become pain-free after the mobility series. In fact, it was at the prodding of these friends that I decided to do my FULL mobility DVD, because they wanted something they could study in their homes after I left.

Now, in the first article I mentioned my father’s statement of “If you do something everyday, then everyday you will be able to do it.” Every morning I go through my routine and establish full mobility in every joint. I easily touch my wrists to the ground every morning. Now I ask you, if I establish full mobility every morning and touch my wrists to the floor easily and gracefully every morning, am I going to have full mobility and easily touch my wrists to the floor at 100 years of age? The answers is ABSOLUTELY YES! All I have to do is keep doing my FULL mobility routine every morning.

If you want to get your hands on the best mobility training out there and the EXACT one I have used to heal myself multiple times from the injuries sustained through training and life then click in the link below:

As an added bonus I am including a FREE BONUS which is my SECRET stretching routine to open up the hip and lengthen the spine which I found are the keys to maximizing my Qigong practice (which would be the second thing I most recommend for longevity).

Done together the joint mobility and stretches can be knocked out in under 26 minutes, yet your health and quality of life will expand to new and greater levels that will seem like a 1000% return on your investment.

Another bonus is a makeshift mobility test that you can do to gage whether you are at a Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 joint mobility. If you train others you can also use it to gage where your clients are at and to monitor their progress over time.

So order this DVD now and try it for yourself. I know that you will feel immediately freer and open, even diminishing or completely getting rid off nagging pain if you are carrying any, at the end of the instructional session. That is right, I am saying that after going through the instructional part just ONCE you will feel an immediate improvement in your mobility! Commit to doing it everyday and you WILL have FULL mobility for the rest of your LIFE!

If you live in the New Jersey area and prefer personal instruction in mobility then I highly recommend you check out my friend Jon Haas’ school, Warrior Fitness at 4004 Sylon Blvd, Hainesport NJ, 08036, or give him a call at 609-556-8712 to set up an appointment or attend a class.

Read Eric’s complete bio HERE.

Healing Yourself with Mobility Part 1

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Jon

Guest blog post by Eric Guttmann, U.S. Navy Officer, Author, Fitness Enthusiast and More

Healing an Ankle Sprain

I frequently attend health, youthing, anti-aging, and training seminars along with travels all over the world regarding health practices. I always make it a point to ask both presenters and experts in the audience what is the number one thing that they have SEEN bring about the greatest results.

The answers are varied and very good: get your bloodwork done because “numbers don’t lie”, drink one gallon of water a day, do “grounding”, wake up early and go to bed early to establish a rhythm with nature, optimize your hormones, do more isometrics, eat 51% of your food raw, get a magnetic mattress, take shilajit, harness the power of the mind, and of course everyone seems to have a favorite supplement and eating regimen they are really fond of.

However as I asked myself this question I found the answer to be achieving FULL Mobility. If there is one thing that I have learned and can transmit to others, that ANYONE from 7 to 97 can do, it is FULL Mobility. Reclaiming my FULL Mobility has helped me in every area of my life and has been a significant source of healings for me and for others, here are just a few:

Reclaiming Full Mobility

When I was in the desert flying missions over Iraq I went into the base gym and they were giving a Capoeira class. Well, it was more like “get in there and do it.” I should have paid attention and noticed that everyone took their shoes off. I simply jumped in the class, started kicking, and managed to twist my ankle. “No problem,” I thought to myself “this will heal in three weeks.” Six months later I still had a nagging pain in my ankle. I went to my chiropractor and training partner and he informed that it was a ligament that was injured and it would take 18 months to heal. I got pissed and decided that I would fix this myself. I dug around my library to find a solution and unearthed some joint mobility materials and started doing joint mobility for the feet and ankles morning and night and in ONE WEEK the pain was gone. I went from 18 months to ONE WEEK doing joint mobility.

I now became a believer and decided to incorporate it daily and made it a life quest to gain FULL mobility in ALL my body. I devoured everything I could get my hands on regarding mobility. My father was a Greco-Roman wrestler in Hungary and when I was seven years old I noticed that he would do exercises every morning. I asked him why and he told me that his Eastern European wrestling coach had shared some training wisdom with him, “If you do something everyday, then everyday you will be able to do it.” Of course, it made perfect sense! If I achieved FULL mobility and practiced it everyday, then everyday for the REST OF MY LIFE I would have FULL mobility.

I have been practicing joint mobility for five years now ever since I had the epiphany with my healed ankle. I have been studying, incorporating, experimenting and refining my routine based on the works and/or my personal interaction with Pavel, Steve Maxwell, Scott Sonnon, Navy kinesiologists, Chek Practitioners, Z-Health, Mike Mahler, Chuck Habbaken, Bud Jeffries and others.If you want to get your hands on the best mobility training out there and the EXACT one I have used to heal myself multiple times from the injuries sustained through training and life then click in the link below:

Moving Freely For Life

Moving Freely For Life <<<=====

If you live in the New Jersey area and prefer personal instruction in mobility then I highly recommend you check out my friend Jon Haas’ school, Warrior Fitness at 4004 Sylon Blvd, Hainesport NJ, 08036, or give him a call at 609-556-8712 to set up an appointment or attend a class.

Moving Freely For Life <<<=====

———

Read Eric’s complete bio HERE.

How to Avoid Ankle Injuries

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Jon

How many people do you know just in your own circle of friends and family who have broken, sprained, or otherwise injured their ankle(s)? A pretty significant amount of people, right? Continue reading →

My Super Secret Recovery Method

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Jon

In addition to my usual compliment of recovery drills consisting of mobility exercises, yoga asana, and compensatory movement, for the past year and a half I have been using a top secret protocol in my exercise recovery work. This exceedingly simple-seeming protocol has consistently accelerated my recovery, allowed me to reach new levels of relaxation, and strengthened the mind-body connection beyond any work I have ever done. It has also managed to increase energy levels while fortifying my body against the daily rigors of life, work, and family stresses. Continue reading →

Imagine You With Less Pain

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Jon

Warrior Fitness

Old School Training for the Modern Warrior

Tag Archives: joint mobility

3 Things I Do Every Day for Recovery

Here are the 3 things I do every day to keep my body performing optimally…

Why Body Skills are Critical to Martial Arts

What are body skills?

The Trinity of Training for Health and Strength

Learn exactly how to unite all 3 here =>

Daily Mobility Practice – The Fountain of Youth

Daily Practice

Benefits of Mobility Training

Logan Christopher’s The Indestructible Body Review

Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

A Paradigm Shift

Maintaining Preparedness

Joint Health and Mobility

Movement in Combat Systema

About the Author

Healing Yourself With Mobility – Part 3

Healing and Mobility Part 3 – Everyday healing of neck, vertigo, and surviving training mistakes with mobility

Read Eric’s complete bio HERE.

Healing Yourself with Mobility Part 1

Healing an Ankle Sprain

Reclaiming Full Mobility

Read Eric’s complete bio HERE.

How to Avoid Ankle Injuries

My Super Secret Recovery Method

Imagine You With Less Pain