Mobility, Mobility, Mobility

What is, hands-down, the most effective, efficient, and time saving daily practice you can adopt for greater health and longevity?

In one word – Mobility, Mobility, Mobility!

I’m sure you are familiar with the phrase, “move it or lose it”, right?  But how seriously do you take it?

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!  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 10 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

Spine mobilityIn 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

Looking for a fantastic resource on mobility?  I would suggest checking out my Martial Power Program or Ninja Missions Program 1.  Both of these courses contain a different, yet highly effective mobility routines that will keep you healthy, active, and pain free for life!

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No matter which program you choose, mobility training is the gift that keeps on giving – it literally pays health dividends that increase over time.  Establish a daily practice and keep going!!

What Business Am I In?

The text for this post came from a speech I gave last week to my BNI (networking) Group…

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You may think you know and understand the business I am in, being that I own a gym.  Perhaps you think I am in the business of helping people lose weight, or get in shape (whatever that means).  Or, maybe the business of helping people get stronger or improve athletic performance.  You would be wrong.  Certainly those things are components of what I do, but they are not the complete picture.

Without stepping on the toes of my friends in the financial planning and life insurance industries, I will unapologetically tell you I am in the business of Long Term Care.  How can I say that?

Fat loss, muscle gain, increases in flexibility, mobility, and performance are not end goals, in and of themselves.  They are ALL merely byproducts of better movement.  Whether you are an athlete, martial artists, soccer mom, or business man, and everyone in between, better movement will always equate to better performance, better body composition, and better health.

Exercise Improves Life

Exercise improves all facets of life.  People who exercise regularly are better at their jobs, kids do better in school, they get sick less often, and in general have much higher levels of energy and health.  Exercise does not just improve your biceps, it improves your brain.  That pump you feel in the muscle when doing a curl is caused by blood flow.  That blood flow is not isolated, that is physiologically impossible – it increases all throughout the body, including the brain.  Think about this – your head is roughly 1/8 of your entire body.  If you simply sit at a desk and work with your mind all day long, no matter how smart and productive you may be, you are only using approximately 1/8th of your entire potential.  Descarte was wrong – the mind is not separate from the body.

I say I am in the business of long term care because I teach you much more than mere fitness.  I teach you how to train for life.  People do not stop moving because they get old.  They get old because they stop moving!

Warrior Fitness is not a set of disparate parts cobbled together, but a system based on my life long experience as a physical culturist.  To be able to recreate what I have put into it, you would have to study Japanese, Chinese, and Russian martial arts, strength training, bodyweight exercise, Kettlebell training, oldtime strong man training, sports science, yoga, qigong, etc…

I have put in all the work; done all the research, experimented with the protocols and the programming.  I have given my clients, both locally here at Warrior Fitness Gym, and worldwide the product of it all– a fully developed, cohesive  system  of training the body, mind, and spirit for health, fitness, and performance –  Warrior Fitness

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Warrior Podcast with Eric Guttmann

In an effort to provide you, my dear readers, with the best information out there on strength, health, fitness, and martial arts, I am interviewing top coaches, professionals, martial arts masters, and ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Continue reading