Yes, like a walker for people who have trouble walking – THAT kind of walker.

There was no note, no card, nothing to explain why, I, a perfectly healthy and mobile young man received a walker via FedEx delivery.

I had a few theories at first.

My brother Joe bought me a high-tech cane as a joke awhile back, and this could have been an upgrade – you know, just in case. Or, my brother Jim could be sending me something to make fun of me because I’m always doing my “mobility moves.” This could be a secret message that someday my silly mobility moves won’t mean jack when I’m immobile. Regardless, I started putting this fold-out contraption to use right away.

I tested it for its structural integrity and then performed a set of parallel bar dips, then some bodyweight rows. Before long, I was experimenting with some moves I had always wanted to try.So, here is a quick video demonstrating some exercises you can do with parallel bars:

Playing with Parallel Bars for Strength Training

These are just strength training exercises, and my technique isn’t perfect during some of them, but I wanted to give you an idea of how many training options we really have at our disposal. It turns out my brother Jim bought this for me because he had been trying to find a way to do parallel bar dips at home, and this was his best solution.

We don’t always have a perfect training environment, or perfect training equipment, and it’s important that we take inventory of what we do have and use it to our advantage. That doesn’t mean compromise on safety, rather draw on what we know to be safe.

I’ve been reflecting lately on how much we have that is extraneous and on what we could live without. The truth is that specialized training equipment is a luxury we enjoy from an abundant lifestyle. My recent experience with MovNat reminded me of this – that we should be able to practice and train anytime, anywhere. If we don’t have a gym membership, no problem. If we don’t have space in our house for exercising, no problem. We’re people, we adapt to the situations around us, and we don’t necessarily need to try to micro-manage and control everything about our lives.

Don’t get me wrong though, I love playing with new equipment, and as long as I have it, I’ll use it. However, I may just build some parallettes after all to prevent any future faceplants…

To your health and success,

CST, CST-KS, NSCA-CPT
Fitness Professional

P.S. Find instructions for do-it-yourself parallettes here.

3 mile easy run with my dog after lunch, one quarter mile walked, last 100 meters were sprinted – all barefoot – about 30 minutes total, didn’t time it.

Running-specific compensations from the RMAX Powered Running DVD

Mid-afternoon FlowFit level 3 session for 17 rounds in <17 minutes.

Flock of Pigeon flow and Forest Flow from Prasara Yoga Instructional DVD to cooldown and compensate.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and CST Athlete

Here’s the instructional video…

Natural Movement Outdoor Strength Training Session


Here are the training session specifics as referenced in the video:

Crawl 20 meters, Sprint 50 meters
Crab Walk 20 meters, Sprint 50 meters
10 continuous, running long jumps
10 jumps over a bench or box

Repeat 2-4X, no rest:
Pullups to failure
Shadow boxing for 1 minute – punches, kicks, elbow strikes, and knee strikes
400 meter run – alternating sprinting with trotting

Repeat 5X, no rest:
Squat walk for 10-15 paces
5 second rock bottom squat hold
5 Bodyweight Squats
1 forward leap

Repeat 1-5X, no rest:
Carry something heavy (20-40% of your bodyweight) for about 15 feet
Throw it as far as you can

You can repeat the entire training session circuit 1-5 times depending on your conditioning level. Also, don’t feel locked into doing each exercise exactly as it is demonstrated. Use what you have available, and adjust the exercises as necessary. If you can’t jump over a box that high, then just do some lateral hops. If you can’t do pullups, then do negative reps or band-assisted pullups. Find a way to make it work for your unique situation.

This training session was inspired by Erwan Le Corre, the creator of the MovNat system, but this does not represent the MovNat practice or philosophy. Perhaps, someday, I’ll be qualified to teach MovNat to you, too. For now, that was just me having some fun in my backyard.

If natural movement seems daunting to you, then I would recommend you invest in a program that will help you unbind your movement, restore your range of motion, and help you regain your natural athleticism. The Intu-Flow wellness system is the best program for this purpose.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and Natural Movement Enthusiast

Intro:  The following workout is designed to help you build muscle, lose fat and improve your conditioning via the neuro-immuno-endocrine response. This occurs after about 14-18 minutes of training for the average person.  Always incorporate a warm-up (including a practice set or two performed slowly) and cool-down. If you are not at a high fitness level, you might need to adjust or scale the exercises to match your fitness level.

3-5 min warm-up (joint mobility is preferred, quick tutorial here, full DVD program here)

Repeat for 15-20 minutes, 1 repetition of each exercise, no rest between exercises, 0-15 seconds of rest between each circuit. Work up to being able to do one set every minute, if possible:

• Bodyweight squat
• T-Pushup (1 per side)
• Bodyweight squat
• Lateral lunges (1 per side)
• Bodyweight squat
• Mountain climbers (1 per side)
• Bodyweight squat
• Wrestlers bridge held for 1-3 seconds (aka yoga wheel pose)
• Bodyweight squat
• Spinal Rock (aka reverse situp)

Rest for 0-15 seconds and repeat for desired number of rounds.

Increase the challenge by doing more sets in less time, or by replacing the bodyweight squats with single leg squats.

3-5 min cool-down (including some whole body vibration drills is a great idea, quick tutorial here, full DVD program here).

Note: If you’d like a full conditioning program to help you burn fat and build muscle by maximizing the neuro-immuno-endocrine response, then I recommend the FlowFit program here:

Workout 2:

Intro: The following workout is designed to help you lose fat and improve your cardiovascular and athletic conditioning. Always incorporate a warm-up (including a practice set or two performed at low intensity) and cool-down. If you are not at a high fitness level, you might need to adjust or scale the exercises to match your conditioning level.

3-5 min warm-up (joint mobility is preferred, quick tutorial here, full DVD program here)

Repeat 3-6X, no rest between exercises other than what is stated, 1-2 minutes of rest at the end of each circuit:

• Sprint 50 meters, walk back to starting point
• Full Squat into Forward Leaps to 60% perceived exertion (balance both height and distance of jump)
• Bear crawl 50 meters, walk back to starting point
• Walking lunges to 60% perceived exertion (with weights if necessary)
• Crab walk 50 meters, walk back to starting point
• Alligator walking to 60% perceived exertion
• Lateral side-stepping 50 meters, each direction

Rest 1-2 minutes and repeat for desired number of sets.

Increase or decrease the number of sets, distances, or rating of perceived exertion to change the difficulty of this workout circuit.

3-5 min cool-down (including some whole body vibration drills is a great idea, quick tutorial here, full DVD program here)

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional

After dinner, I did Intu-Flow Intermediate level, with some other exercises added in where I needed it most.

I followed the joint mobility session with a FlowFit session/test. I did FlowFit level 3 for 14 rounds in 13:45.

One of the requirements for the Circular Strength Training Certification is to be able to do 14 rounds of level 3 in 14 minutes, so I passed my self-test.

Let me tell you, if you want a program that will have you working up a sweat in less than 10 minutes, then give FlowFit a try. I was making it a point to keep my exertion as minimal as possible – I just wanted to pass the test, really – but I started really breathing and I’m drenched. I’ll probably have to drink at least a quart of water before bed just to replace what was lost. This one is ideal for burning fat all over your body and building muscles in places you probably didn’t know you had them!

I haven’t done FlowFit in awhile, and surprised myself with my performance.  I didn’t expect to be able to maintain optimal technique for all 14 rounds, but that’s what happened. I finished each working set in about 45-50 seconds, and then rested for the remaining 10-15 seconds while shaking out my legs and torso.

I will be finishing the evening with some Prasara BodyFlow yoga flows. I’m going to work on Forest flow and Flock of Pigeons Flow to hit these legs.

Later!

Fitness Professional and CST Athlete

Clubbell training with 15 lb clubbells:

Repeat 2X, warmup, no rest:
10 swipes, 10 mills/arm, 10 hammer swings/direction

Clubbell Work Set:
100 double swipes – 6 sets of 15, 1 set of 10
100 single arm mills – 6 sets of 15/arm, 1 set of 10/arm
100 hammer swings per direction – 50, 30, 20 reps

Rating Perceived Technique: 8+
Rating Perceived Effort: swipes = 8, mills = 5, hammer swings = 7
Rating Perceived Discomfort: 0

Bodyweight Training For Leg Strength, 1 set per exercise, went until about 60% exertion, 10 seconds rest between exercises:
Bodyweight squats
Reverse Lunges
Forward Lunges
Lateral Lunges
Forward/Reverse Lunges
Plie Lunges
Dragon Twisting
Pistols

Rating Perceived Technique: 8
Rating Perceived Effort: 5
Rating Perceived Discomfort: 0

Finished with Forest Flow from the Prasara Yoga Instructional DVD. Will do Flock of Pigeons Flow later tonight before bed. I’ll be in the car for about 10 hours tomorrow, so it will be scattered with frequent bouts of joint mobility to decompress my spine throughout the trip.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional

Bodyweight Training for Functional Leg Strength


You can setup these leg strength exercises any way you want depending on your goals.

Circuit workout – Repeat the entire circuit 1-3X, 0-15 seconds of rest between exercises – go to 50% exertion on each set for a high volume session and 80% exertion for a high intensity session.

Bodyweight Squats
Reverse Lunges
Forward Lunges
Reverse/Forward Lunges
Lateral Lunges
Plie Lunges
Dragon Twisting
Jumping Squats
Plyometric Lunges
Single Leg Squats

Superset workout – make 5 pairs of non-competing exercises (ie don’t pair bodyweight squats with jump squats). Perform first exercise for 30-45 seconds, rest 30 seconds, then perform second exercise for 30-45 seconds, rest 30 seconds, and repeat for desired number of rounds. Exertion should be between 60-80%.

A1: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
A2: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
(repeat 1-3X)
B1: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
B2: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
(repeat 1-3X)
C1: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
C2: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
(repeat 1-3X)
D1: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
D2: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
(repeat 1-3X)
E1: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
E2: 30-45 seconds of work, rest 30 seconds
(repeat 1-3X)

Hybrid or Complex Workout – Combine all exercise into one long Kinetic Chain by performing one repetition of each exercise and immediately moving into the next exercise. Completing all ten exercises equals one set. Repeat 5-20X, and rest 0-60 seconds between sets.

Bodyweight Squats
Reverse Lunges
Forward Lunges
Reverse/Forward Lunges
Lateral Lunges
Plie Lunges
Dragon Twisting
Jumping Squats
Plyometric Lunges
Single Leg Squats

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional

P.S. For an all-in-one bodyweight training program that will train your body not only in 3 dimensions, but also through the 6 degrees of freedom, check out the Flowfit conditioning program:

It was such a nice day, that I did all of my training outside in the sunshine. I began with a very thorough session of joint mobility training using the Intu-Flow longevity system. I spent about 40 minutes in total working each joint through mixed levels of sophistication. I spent a lot of time on my shoulders, arms, and legs especially.

Then, after playing with the dog for a little while, I practiced some FlowFit rounds to prepare for the upcoming focus in my training cycle. Here is one of the rounds I filmed for you:

Flowfit – levels 3 and 4 demonstrated

I’m pleased with my performance, although I think my leg swoop was a little off today. I thought it was funny when the sun came out during my upward facing dog – it had been cloudy up until then. I may take the dog for a walk later, and I plan on practicing Forest Flow from Prasara Yoga before the end of today. I am also happy that there is very little muscle soreness after yesterday’s high intensity clubbell training session.

Have a great weekend, and, if you’re with me, enjoy the first day of your 100 Day Challenge!

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional

P.S. you can find more info about the Flowfit conditioning program here:

I climbed a few trees today around noon, just for fun, and continued with some more joint mobility. I’m really trying to “clean the slate,” especially my spine mobility.

After work, I did a 15 lb clubbell training session…

Repeat 3X to warmup, no rest:
10 double clubbell swipes
10 single-arm mills per arm
10 hammer swings per direction

Work Set…
Swipes – 5 sets of 17, 1 set of 15 (30-60 seconds between sets)
Mills – 10X10/arm, (no rest)
Hammer Swings – 2X25/direction (no rest)

Rating Perceived Technique 8+
Rating Perceived Effort 5-9 (9 is for grip during swipes)
Rating Perceived Discomfort 0

3 Run-throughs of the Spider Monkey Flow from the Prasara Yoga Instructional DVD. Also did some full body vibrations afterwards.

Notes: surprisingly, my legs are not sore at all from last night’s session. I did squats, squat jumps (forward, backwards, and laterally), reverse lunges, front lunges, lateral lunges, forward/reverse lunges, and single leg squats. I finished with some basic BodyFlow to relieve some of the tension in my legs and I think this had a major effect on my post day DOMS (which is about 1/10). I just enjoyed another banana berry protein shake (recipe here). Now, it’s time to make the dog some dinner.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and CST Athlete

Earlier in the day, I picked up the 45 lb clubbell for some two-handed swipes – it was more practice, not training.

Today, I went for a 2 mile walk with my dog Ronin. We ran about a half mile of that, and sporadically sprinted about 50 meters a couple of times. I don’t like just walking or just running, I’d rather mix it up a bit and challenge myself in new ways. Ronin did much better on the leash today than yesterday. He didn’t pull except when a couple of dogs charged him from a neighbor’s yard.

After my walk, I spent about 45 minutes on a very thorough, and much needed full body joint mobility session using the Intu-Flow Longevity System. I spent extra time on my arms and legs, but each joint got a thorough wash. I feel great by the way!

Then I did some 15 lb clubbell practice – swipes, mills, circles, casts, and cleans mostly. I kept my exertion low, around 3 or less. I need to focus more on recovery today, than trying to stimulate an adaptation. It was purely technique practice.

Notes: my legs are still pretty sore from some bodyweight training yesterday (squats, lunges, jumps, pistols, etc.), so I’m going light on my legs with the clubbell practice. Tonight, I’ll practice Spider Monkey flow from the Prasara Yoga DVD which I just learned this past week. I think Spider Monkey is the hardest of the 5 flows for me. I’m having trouble transitioning from starfish to the single-leg downward facing dog (can’t remember the name). It’s a very strength-challenging yoga flow.

Until next time!

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and CST athlete