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

Ryan Murdock traveling in Jordan.

If you’ve been following the blog for awhile, I’m sure you know that I’m a big proponent of the Circular Strength Training system. Ryan Murdock is on the Faculty, in charge of bringing CST to the world, and he has a revolutionary way of sharing his health-first fitness viewpoints. I guarantee that you’ll learn something new by listening in on this call. Plus, Ryan is a great story-teller, and he’s gives us a glimpse into some of his travel adventures.  Some of the key points we covered include:

- How martial art will change your worldview and set you on the path of personal mastery, preparing you for all of life’s challenges. (also, why CST jives with most martial artists especially)

- Why joint mobility is Ryan’s “daily minimum,” and how he uses it to stay in tip-top shape year round.

- The best bodyweight training methods for achieving your health-first fitness goals at home or on the road.

- Health and Fitness Insights we can learn from visiting indigenous people from obscure places in the world.

- How to kill giant cockroaches that scurry around your hotel room! (one of Ryan’s stories from traveling in Burma with his girlfriend)

Listen to the interview here:

John Sifferman Interviews Ryan Murdock (54 Minutes in Length)

I want to thank Ryan again for doing this interview. It is an honor to learn from someone who carves out his own path in life and sets a fine example for us all. Be sure to check out his sites:

http://RyanMurdock.com
http://rmaxstaff.com/murdock
http://BodyweightExerciseRevolution.com

Here are some ways you can get started with CST today:

Clubbell Quick-Start Training Packages can be found halfway down this page (you can find more info about clubbells on the official site here http://clubbell.tv.com)

Prasara Yoga Introductory Package – Book here, Instructional DVD here.

Joint Mobility Training Package (more info about mobility training on my site here)

As always, if you have any questions about what was discussed on the call, how to get started, or about the products themselves, please leave a comment below or use the Contact page above.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and CST Student

P.S. For more information about clubbell training and prasara yoga, I recommend Scott Sonnon’s programs The Encyclopedia of Clubbell Training and his book Prasara Yoga.

Only 4 minute workouts and $14,615 - what the heck is it, again?

More guru’s, experts, and professionals would be nice – someone who can help ME.

Another supplement line with all organic ingredients would be excellent! (if it were even possible)

How about some new gadgets to buy on late night TV? I hear the booty-plasmatronic machine is a real good deal. Plus it only takes 10 minutes a week to get a chiseled body.

No? Well then certainly we could use some more websites that teach us about fitness, exercise, nutrition, and personal development. More information is always a good thing.

How about an online GROUP just for fitness – that’s a GREAT IDEA!!!

It doesn’t take a genius to prove that the current model for how to live a healthy physically-oriented lifestyle is severely flawed. All of the above solutions have been pounded into the dirt, again and again. We have no shortage of solutions like the ones above, yet we are still facing some of the most daunting crisis’ in history. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and obesity rates are climbing faster and faster. Depression is affecting MILLIONS of American’s – that’s a lot of people that are upset about how their life is going. The statistics are frightening and the state of our health is only one of our problems!

Even with all the above quick-fix solutions, and many others, these problems are actually getting worse. Most people are walking wounded, sick regularly, and are on their way to dis-ease for the rest of their lives. A lack of resources isn’t the problem. We’ve got resources coming out of our ears, and we STILL have major health problems that aren’t getting better anytime soon. We have a fundamental problem on our hands!

So, what do we really need in the fitness industry?

That’s a hard question to answer, but I know who to ask. Ask the people who are living a life of vibrant health and abundant vitality already. Ask the people that wake up refreshed and eager to start their day. Ask the people that live and breathe pure physical living. And most importantly, ask the people that know how to help others best.

You see, we don’t need more guru’s, experts, or professionals selling supplements, fancy (read useless) training equipment, or membership websites. Those things can all help us, but in the big picture, they’re more of a hindrance than anything else. They take our eyes off of the process of pursuing a healthier and more fulfilling lifestyle. They have us chasing after beneficial results, or running from consequences, instead of chasing after intrinsic rewards and the joy of physical living.

So, take a balanced perspective when listening to guru’s, taking supplements, or trying new diet or fitness programs. Realize that your problem isn’t a lack of nutrients, or a lack of activity. Your problem is a disconnection from your physical nature. Your problem is a lack of love for physical living. Instead of trying to cure your problem with a quick-fix solution, prevent the problem before it even starts.

I’d rather see more activists than guru’s out there. More leaders than experts. More revolutionists than traditionalists. I’d rather see fitness professionals who would share their love of physical living with others, even without the promise of gain for them.

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. -Howard Thurman

The fitness industry needs much more than a quick-fix solution – or any number of them. The fitness industry needs a complete overhaul. Call it a revolution, call it a revival, but what we need is something huge – far beyond what any single person or organization is able to solve.

The good news is that change is possible – it’s happening in people’s lives already. I look around and see people in sub-cultures getting upset about the conventional model of health and fitness. People are getting downright angry about it, actually. RMAX, Exuberant Animal, MovNat, the RKC, the IYCA, the IKFF, the Paleo and Primal communities are all beginning to realize that the current model of health and fitness is flawed. People are starting to wake up, but it’s happening slowly. But it IS happening. And you can be a part of it, too. You just need to choose to jump onboard.

Here’s how you can get started…

1) Realize that this is something much bigger than we can handle on our own. We won’t change the world, but we can change ourselves and begin to help others do the same.

2) Commit to changing your life first, before trying to share the love of physical living with others. You can only bring someone to a place of physical living that you have gone to yourself.

3) Get involved with an online community that shares your passion. AND…

4) Get involved with people from your local community to share your passion of fitness, athletics, exercise, cooking, hobbies, etc. Online communities are great. I’m apart of several. But they are nothing like getting to know people in person.

suggestions: find a training partner, join a fitness group, lead a summer hiking group, plan a beach day and invite all your friends, have a weekend BBQ with games, or get a dog that loves to explore the great outdoors.

5) Take a deep breath, because we’re about to dive into a sea of possibilities.

The revolution is coming. It’s already started in some communities. I hope you’ll get on board.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where I go over how I’ve made the transition in my own life.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and Revolutionary Thinker

Thought for the day:

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. ~Lao Tzu

Damien Tougas, of www.AdventureInProgress.com made a great comment in another blogpost the other day…

We all have only 24 hours in a day, and can only devote so much thought and time to any given thing. That is why we are looking for the quick fix, because we don’t have time for anything more than that. We want to do it all, have our cake and eat it too. What we really need to do is simplify our lives. Let go of the things that are not important so that we can have more time, thought, and energy to spend on the things that really are important.

I think that philosophy is perfected in nature. Nature is the paramount example of necessity, and nothing in nature is superfluous. Everything serves a specific purpose in order for life to continue – and it works very well, I might add. Some would say that nature works perfectly.

It makes sense that we would do well to model our own lives after this simple idea of living only out of necessity – only doing what is necessary for survival. Of course, this isn’t merely an issue of survival, it’s an issue of quality of life, too.

We tend to carry around much more than we need, and I don’t just mean material possessions. We carry various responsibilities and obligations that command our attention almost every moment of every day. Some of these are higher priority than others, and each person will have a different value hierarchy. But the truth is that we’re so busy living, that we neglect or ignore what is truly important to us. Things like health and family priorities get shoveled under work and business responsibilities. Leisure and education get cut out for the purpose of providing more time to pay the bills. What if we got rid of some of the bills? What if we got rid of the cell phone plan, the satellite TV, the luxury car payment (and when I say luxury, a Toyota Camry would be luxury based on what I’m driving now, LOL).

If you compared the average American lifestyle with the basic needs of human survival, you would find a gross overabundance of resources. So, that’s not the problem. The problem is our perspective. We feel like we have to do XYZ in order for our life to be fulfilled. I’ve found it to be quite the opposite. Most of the time, it’s not an issue of DOING something extra – it’s an issue of doing less, or not doing some things at all. Just as Damien said, the more we can cut out of our lives, the more time and energy we’ll have to focus on what truly matters.

I chased after the quick fixes for health and fitness, among other things, and I have found them severely lacking in many respects. If you want to truly enjoy abundant physical health, then you need to simplify your life. The first step is getting rid of the garbage that doesn’t really matter. The next step is to devote yourself entirely to accomplishing that which is important to you.

Simple, right?

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional

Hi John, I’m 43 y.o male , 1.85 m , 80kg , i discovered Tom Venuto’s BFFM ebook last February and by applying his program got rid 10 kg of fat and now I am at about 12.5% BF and in the better shape of my life from a BF point of view . I want to drop some more fat  (to less than 10% BF) and put some serious muscle on as next goals. What I realized reading your blog (but this is something i always felt intuitively) is that I miss the mobility part in my fitness, I’m much less mobile and efficient from a functional stand point that i would like and this limits my potential obviously. I liked very much your holistic philosophy to fitness and watching your videos it’s clear you have much wider freedom of body movement than most of the gym attendants or bodybuilders. I’d like a muscular body but not a stiff , just bulky one as those i see too often in the gym , I want to be ripped , muscular AND flexible/coordinated/functional. So I would like to ask you, what  do you advise me to add to my training routine (which is weight training + cardio  5 days per week )?

ANSWER:

I find that everyone wants the same thing – people not only want to look good, they want to BE good. By that, I mean be able to perform real life activities very well. People want a functional aspect to their fitness, and they want to feel athletic without being labeled an “athlete” or “fitness freak.” For example, men want a ripped, muscular body that is “lean and mean,” not big and bulky. Men want a body that is functional and capable of handling real life tasks with ease. Men don’t just want to look powerful, they want to be powerful, and most importantly, feel powerful. And that brings us to…

The holy grail of fitness goals: Look good and BE good!

Sadly, today most fitness programs are modeled on classic bodybuilding-style programs. The bodybuilding boom had a huge impact, and left our culture confused about what being fit means.

Training like a bodybuilder in the gym doesn’t make you a bodybuilder, but if you are training with a bodybuilding-style program, then you’ll get bodybuilding-style results – perhaps only to a lesser extent than those who take it to an extreme and compete. Even if you’re not competing, you’ll still experience some other “side effects” for following a bodybuilding-style routine.

Sure, you’d be very big: have huge guns, a wide and meaty back, and tank-tread abs, but what else would you likely have? Lack of general athleticism for starters. Just like any sport, bodybuilders are extreme specialists, and they get VERY good at one thing – developing their physique in a certain way to appeal to the judges of their show. Like any other sport, this specialization has some consequences.

Consequences You Pay For Training Like a Bodybuilder

A lot of things happen to your body when you train like a bodybuilder. Along with building big muscles and shaving off bodyfat, a few consequences are the development of adhesions (aka scar tissue) on soft myofascia tissue, calcification of the joint capsules, and gradual dis-integration of the nervous system, among other things. This downward spiral of ill-effects eventually leads to a loss of mobility and flexibility (ie becoming “muscle bound”), which leads to poor coordination and agility. Basically, bodybuilding-style training will dis-integrate your natural movement potential, and will result in a gradual loss of general athleticism.

Even if you don’t train like a bodybuilder who is preparing for a competition, but if your program is modeled on their strategies, you will experience these consequences, too. Some people are fine with this, and I have no problem with it myself. I admire and have a lot of respect for the bodybuilders I know. I’m just not going to keep quiet about the risks.

Now, with that said… let’s get to answering Massimo’s question: what  do you advise me to add to my training routine (which is weight training + cardio  5 days per week )?

Adding in extra physical activity is a great idea, but I have an even better one.

First, I would ask yourself, what can you get rid of that may be contributing to the problem in the first place? Let’s try to prevent the problem before it even starts. If your training program is leaving you feeling inflexible, immobile, and uncoordinated, then it sounds like you need a different program to achieve your new goals. You’ve solved the fat loss problem, now let’s focus on getting back to natural movement and general athleticism, which will lead to less bodyfat and more functional muscle. There are any number of ways to do this, and I can recommend a few…

1) Start a strength training program that directly focuses on mobility and general athleticism and all the attributes that go along with it (agility, coordination, balance, power, endurance, etc.). The Circular Strength Training (CST) system is the perfect solution for this because it puts health first as the priority (then followed by mobility, functionality, attributes, and finally physique). This is the program I have used for the past 3 years that has helped me achieve my fitness goals and maintain general athleticism and a body perfectly structured for exploring natural movement (I’ll be getting certified to teach CST in August). I’ve always said that a beautiful physique comes as a by-product of abundant health, and that’s certainly the case with CST training.

There are a ton of ways to get started with CST, so I’d recommend that you invest in Intu-Flow, FlowFit, and a clubbell program. Clubbells train the body not only in 3 dimensions, but in 6 degrees of freedom. They are one of the best strength training tools for building functional strength that is applicable to real life demands. You can find a lot more information about all of these resources by searching my blog.  The magic of the CST system is in its comprehensive nature and the how the 3 wings interact with one another to produce a superior training effect (3 wings of CST = joint mobility, clubbell athletics, and prasara yoga). It would be best to create a training program that incorporates all 3 wings to maximize your results.

2) Pick out a hobby that is inherently athletic, and practice and play regularly – you have almost unlimited options here: basketball, soccer, martial art, triathlon, football, ultimate frisbee, rock climbing, gymnastics, parkour, or MovNat. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll add in a note that it’s a good idea to practice and play several different activities to try and prevent over-specilization and the problems that creates.

3) If you want to keep your current training program, that’s fine, too. I’d just recommend you supplement it with some joint mobility exercises, and some compensatory movements to help build and maintain natural movement. I’ve tried almost every well-known joint mobility program there is, and I have come to love the Intu-Flow joint mobility system far above the others. If you can’t afford the package deal, then just get the DVD’s. Just practicing this one program alone will make a HUGE difference in how you feel and how well you move. I do an intu-flow session almost daily. I’d also supplement your program with some form of Prasara BodyFlow yoga to get deeper into your range of motion. Here are some Prasara resources, each with a different emphasis and focus:

Prasara Yoga DVD Program

Ageless Mobility DVD Program

4) Finally, if you just want a one-stop-shop solution for your goals with no guesswork involved. If you just want to be told what to do, then I’d recommend either the TacFit program, or the less expensive Bodyweight Exercise Revolution, which has all 3 wings of CST programmed into each session.

Again, I’ve got a lot of free resources covering joint mobility, prasara yoga, bodyweight exercise, and clubbell training right here on the blog. Feel free to explore the tabs above or use the search feature in the top right corner.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional

P.S. The TacFit program will likely give you the most bang for your buck when it comes to functional fitness training:

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

Moving on all fours is great for a lot of reasons…

1) It can be done anywhere and doesn’t require any equipment
2) It is an integrative movement, not an isolation movement that can improve strength, endurance, power, balance, coordination, and agility.
3) It can be used for fat loss, muscle building, or general conditioning goals.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to begin to rediscover the value of moving on all fours. Pretending like you’re an animal stalking prey makes it all the more fun…

How to Move on All Fours: Basic Crawling Fundamentals


That is literally just a sampling of the huge array of possibilities when it comes to moving on all fours. The bear crawl and the crab walk are the most popular, and most useful, but there are infinite variations to explore.

Remember the key points:

1) Maintain a mostly flat back when you can do so without straining.
2) Keep your weight proportioned equally on all four of your limbs. Don’t sit too far back on your feet, and don’t lean too far forward on your hands. Find the sweet spot in the middle, where you could hold the position for a long time.

You’ll want to make it a goal to treat crawling as an exploratory exercise – not so much training as it is practice. Try to crawl with very little effort. Focusing on your breath will help with this. With each compression of the lungs, exhale. Focus on the exhale, and the inhale will take care of itself. When perfected, the movement will breathe your body for you – you won’t even have to think about it. You should be able to carry on with a normal conversation while crawling after you’ve mastered it.

Just like running and jumping, you’ll want to try and crawl softly, quietly – move like a ninja or a panther. This will teach your body to absorb shock and distribute it all throughout your body, instead of catching all of the shock in a local joint or soft tissue.

After you’ve got these fundamentals down, you can go off in so many different directions with crawling, and I think it’s best to crawl in a more natural environment. Try crawling on grass, sand, pavement, and gravel – on flat, uneven, and hilly surfaces. You can crawl forwards, backwards, laterally, and diagonally. You can move very slowly, as a grinding strength exercise, or you can hop and skip on your 4 limbs, too.

Here’s a 100 yard bear crawl test I did last year for some of the members of the Burn the Fat: Inner Circle.

Bear Crawl Test – 100 yards

And here are a couple more videos demonstrating quadrupedal movement from some parkour athletes:

And two great tutorials by my coach, Scott Sonnon. The real value here is not just in the detailed exercise instruction, but with the inclusion of example Flow Chains to play around with. Just keep in mind that these drills were crafted for very specific purposes:

The Kong

The Ape Step

Do keep in mind that there should be an element of discipline employed when you try any new exercise, especially a sophisticated one like most quadrupedal movements. In the same breath, I do want to recommend that you PLAY with these movements moreso than you train with them. They’re natural, and they’re fun, and should be enjoyed. If you like focusing on very specific technique cues, then go for it, but please don’t let the seemingly complicated nature of these movements scare you out of trying them. Self-exploration is the key, and there’s really no right or wrong way to explore your natural expression of human movement.

If you like these natural human movements, then you’ll love the biomechanical exercises from Scott Sonnon’s BodyFlow program.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and Natural Movement Enthusiast

Nikhil Rao wrote in his article What Your Doc Doesn’t Know About Weightlifting (article here):

medical education is extremely intense, and extremely broad. It has to be. That said, there is a lot it doesn’t cover. We learn the atomic structure of every amino acid (most of us promptly forget all of this after the biochemistry final). We learn the equations for cardiovascular physiology. We learn the branches of every nerve, the origin and attachment for every muscle in the human body.

But we don’t learn the basics of healthy nutrition. We don’t learn about cardiovascular and musculoskeletal adaptations and responses to exercise. We don’t learn about how insulin facilitates the utilization of protein and creatine.

Rao makes a good point in his article that doctors are taught about how to treat the symptoms of disease, usually with drugs and/or surgery, but they are NOT taught about how to prevent it through healthy lifestyle strategies like physical activity and a healthy diet.

Now, wouldn’t it make sense that our culture should place a stronger emphasis on the study, education, and practice surrounding the topic of DISEASE PREVENTION, rather than disease treatment? You would think so, but it’s not the case – and that’s a story much too long for this article to tell. Basically, my opinion is that it all boils down to the love of money, and how that contributes to the medical industry.

Instead, most of our culture’s resources are spent on the research and practice of DISEASE TREATMENT, not prevention. Now, I see a similar theme present in the fitness industry – except it’s not doctors that are to blame, it’s personal trainers.

Personal trainers know all about exercise. Some of the good ones know a little about nutrition, too. Somehow, these personal trainers have figured out a way to keep in shape. They’ve figured out what works for them and their clients, which is why they are healthy all the time and do good business year round.

The problem I see is that many personal trainers will PRESCRIBE a fitness program much like a doctor prescribes treatment for a disease.

“You’ve got __________, so you need ____________.”

That’s generally how the rationale goes. You’ve got a weight problem, so you need to eat less food. You’re weak, so you need a strength training program. You’ve got lower back pain, so you need to stretch more. You’re too skinny, so you need to eat more.

This prescription format isn’t helping people in the way they truly need it. The advice may solve the symptoms of the problem, but it won’t solve the SOURCE of the problem, which could be any number of things – lack of knowledge, personal responsibility, motivation, or discipline to name a few.

For example, chemotherapy may get rid of cancer (while it poisons the rest of your body), but it won’t prevent it from coming back in the future. Similarly, an effective fitness program may get rid of excess bodyfat, but it won’t prevent it from coming back in the future. Much more has to change to ensure that results are natural, sustainable, and permanent.

Now, wouldn’t it make sense that our culture should place a stronger emphasis on the study, education, and practice surrounding the topic of FITNESS PROBLEM PREVENTION, rather than fitness problem treatment? Why don’t we just avoid the problems in the first place by nipping them in the bud? Again, we would think this is a no-brainer, but it’s just not the case with most personal trainers.

I’ve been there myself. I’m a certified personal trainer through the NSCA, and I have worked in health clubs, homes, parks, and churches one-on-one and as a group fitness instructor. I used to prescribe fitness programs to people who needed them, and the clients who followed my advice reached their goals. But I knew that my clients needed something more than just a good program to follow, they needed something that they could put into practice themselves, something that would make them less reliant on a fitness professional. Something that they could OWN.

My fitness program prescriptions were quick-fix solutions to their problems, and it was my solution, not theirs. You see, I’ve found what really works for me. I know how to keep myself in tip-top shape, how to achieve specific goals, and how to enjoy the process. But my way isn’t necessarily the best way for everyone. For me, I’ve cracked the code of how to maintain high fitness levels and enjoy abundant health in my lifestyle. It isn’t even hard work anymore, and I look forward to pursuing my goals because I enjoy the process. I’ve actually fallen in love with the process!

Now, as a personal trainer, I would have a hard time imparting that quality to my clients. What I love to do is probably different than what you love to do. Therefore, I’ve discovered that it takes a lot more than just personal training to give people what they really need and desire. A rote training program isn’t the solution. A personal trainer can easily prescribe a program that will treat the symptoms of an unhealthy lifestyle – that’s their specialty, but even the best program won’t cure the source of the problem.

Sure, my personal fitness program would probably be an effective solution for many people trying to achieve common fitness goals. If an average Joe put effort into a comparable fitness program catered to their goals, they would probably achieve them, no problem. But would they OWN those results and would they be able to sustain them long-term because they utterly enjoy the process? I doubt it. Not everyone will enjoy swinging clubbells, hiking, rock climbing, or Prasara Bodyflow yoga like I do. And I wouldn’t want to guide people into only sticking with those physical activities. There’s a diversity of choices out there that can’t even be measured. There are infinite ways to get into great shape, and the last thing I want to do is tell someone that they NEED to do it a certain way, and not to explore other paths.

The Solution

People need to be educated about how to live a healthier lifestyle, how to make abundant physical living an active part of their lifestyle, and how to prevent dis-ease through lifestyle strategies. More importantly, people need to take responsibility for their own physical education. If you don’t want an education, or rather, a re-education, then you’ll never understand the joy to be had in physical living. You can’t do it without first learning how – you won’t find strength, health, happiness, and freedom in a pill, in a magazine article, or in a special workout program. It doesn’t exist.

I’m sorry, but a cookie-cutter workout program won’t cut it. Most people hate working out, and won’t sustain that type of physical activity long term. They need something more, something exciting, something that they’ll dream about when going to sleep at night. They need something that they will ENJOY, that makes them feel happy and free, like a kid again. Now, some people have a genuine interest in lifting weights, cardio, aerobics, etc. Some people DO like to workout, and I’m all for it when that’s the case. However, for those that don’t enjoy working out at the gym, there are limitless options.

As detrimental to my career as it sounds, I wish nobody needed to hire a personal trainer. I wish my profession would go extinct! Fitness should not have to be a complicated subject, and it’s not when you strip it of all the cultural baggage we attach to it. Anyone can become physically fit with a very simple traditional formula – engage in vigorous physical activity regularly and eat good food most of the time. That’s the straightforward path to physical fitness. Add in some habits like avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol, and other toxic substance exposure, and you’ve got a recipe for good health for a lifetime.

With that simple fitness advice, there’s so much potential to play around with. So, shame on any personal trainer who dictates closed-minded, dogmatic beliefs about fitness to their clients. The goal of a good coach should be to teach their trainees how to embody their own expression of physical fitness, not to regurgitate a pre-set path to fitness that has been outlined by out-dated textbooks.

Which do you like better in regards to fitness training?

a) being told what to do, even if you don’t understand why
b) knowing why and how to do something, so that you can do it better for the rest of your life

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional

Running should be a joyful experience, not a boring or exhausting workout.

Today, I went for the perfect run. Why was it perfect? Because I utterly enjoyed it, and I know that it was exactly what I needed today. That’s how training should be – our desires should line up exactly with our needs.

Not only was I eager to get outdoors and run, I wanted to do it right. I wanted to practice the perfect run and know that when I was finished I had done something right and good for me. Allow me to elaborate.

I ran Fall cross country, Winter Track, and Spring Track and Field in high school, and my events were the long distance events. I put a LOT of miles on my body in three years. So many miles, in fact, that I overtrained into injuries that ultimately led to almost three years in physical therapy, which was terminated early because I had maxed out the funds my health insurance was covering. I won’t bore you with the details.

It’s probably too obvious to say that I approach long distance running with caution these days. In fact, I remember saying that I would never run again. That’s what the doctors and specialists were telling me, and I eventually believed them for awhile. I’ve learned a lot about running since then, including many things that I would do differently if given the chance to return to the past.

Today, I definitely will not allow myself to stumble back into the running methods of my youth. I approach each run in a very different manner than I used to, and I want to share some tips about how to run better with you.

How to Run Better: 5 Things That I Do Differently Now That I Know Better

1) My lifestyle is much more balanced and supportive of a running hobby than it was when I was in high school. I eat better foods. Drink only water and tea most of the time. I’m not sleep deprived or over-worked. I have plenty of time to take care of my health. Going for a run today does more good than harm.

Running used to just add to the laundry list of stresses in my life, instead of being an avenue for stress-relief as it is today. If you’re already over-stressed, then it’s counter-intuitive to add to that stress by going for a physically demanding run.

Another aspect of this is that I have active recovery practices programmed directly into my lifestyle. Exercise is no longer simplified into work times and rest times – training days and “off” days. Every day is an opportunity for physical activity, and the best way to sustain physical activity is to adopt a daily personal practice that will help to PREhabilitate your body. I primarly use the Intu-Flow Longevity System for this purpose. If you don’t compensate for the physical work-related activities that you do regularly, then your body will eventually adapt to them and will always lead to imbalances and worse over time. Look at anyone who trains for endurance sports if you need proof.

2) Methods of warming up for a run have changed drastically. I used to jog for a bit, which I’ve now learned is an inefficient stride for energy conservation. After a 5-10 minute jog, I would do a full body course of static stretches, holding each one for 15-30 seconds until the muscle relaxed (read “lengthened” or “deformed”). After the stretching, I would begin the run.

Today, my warmup is comprised of much different methods that have been contributing to my injury-free, and thus, pain-free running hobby. I use joint mobility exercises instead of static stretches – working from head to to, and core to periphery. I also skip the initial jog, and just progress slowly into my run – walking, trotting, then running with occasional sprints interspersed throughout the run. Jogging is a thing of the past!

The program RMAX Powered Running really helped me learn how to fine-tune my joint mobility warmups specifically for running. I consider this the best resource for runners that wish to train long-term without injuries:

RMAX Powered Running

3) I run differently than I used to. My running technique has changed subtly in the past year, but the minor changes have made a huge impact on how well I run and how good I feel afterwards. I used to feel awful when I finished a run, just beat and exhausted with achy joints all over. It’s not like that anymore, and a huge reason for that is because my stride has changed out of necessity.

I’ve been adopting a “less is more” philosophy, and especially when it comes to footwear. In fact, I’ve been going barefoot all year, as often as I can, including during my runs. Naturally, taking off your shoes will change the way you walk and run. If you’re like me, upon first trying barefoot running, you’ll be hopping around like you’re walking on hot coals every time you step on a pebble – but your feet will toughen up quickly. In fact, running barefoot may even naturally improve your running technique in-and-of-itself.

When you take off your shoes, heel striking is no longer an option. As it turns out, heel striking is one of the major causes of joint injuries in the knees, hips, and spine, among other places. Try heel striking while barefoot and your intuition will tell you it’s a bad idea. You’ll never do it twice, trust me. Instead, you will want to land on your forefoot, or “mid-foot.” This will help you to “catch” your weight and absorb the shock throughout your body – instead of having over-engineered shoes do it for you. This is where natural running technique starts, and it will progress into more efficient and effective running from there.

If you want more information on this running technique, research the POSE running method as developed by Dr.Nicholas Romanov.

4) I now include an effective post-run ritual. When I was done with my runs in high school, that was it for the day – I was just DONE. I’d put everything I had into each run, and a proper cooldown routine just wasn’t employed regularly. Sometimes, I would “walk it off” to catch my breath and maybe do some stretches, but I was inconsistent at best. When I was finished running, I was finished exercising. That’s what the warmup was for, right?

WRONG!

The cooldown portion of your run is arguably one of the most important aspects, and if you want to stay injury-free, you better pay attention to that short window of opportunity following your runs.

I have a very specific cooldown ritual that I follow after every run, with some variance here and there depending on what my intuition is telling me. I ALWAYS do some full body vibration drills as soon as I’ve finished my run and the “cooldown walk.” Just shaking out my legs, arms, and torso really helps to alleviate some of the stored tension throughout my body and restores bloodflow to my muscles and synovial fluid to my joints. The RESET program was a great resource for learning how to do this effectively.

After shaking out, I’ll usually walk on the outside and inside edges of my feet for about 50-100 small steps. This helps with the prevention of shin splints.

Other than that, I’ll usually do some biomechanical exercises from the BodyFlow program to relieve some deeper tension in and around the joints in my legs, hips, and spine. This is always intuitive, and each day is a little different.

I always finish with either Forest Flow from Prasara Yoga or a 4 Corner Balance Drill.

The 4 Corner Balance Drill

5) I enjoy every step of every run I take today. For me, running used to be a challenge. It was hard work that I did for the purpose of bettering myself. There was an element of fun to it, but it was more pain than pleasure. The end always justified the means, and so it wasn’t as enjoyable as it could have been. I would stress over shaving off an extra second or two from my 1600 meter race, and it wasn’t healthy or sustainable long-term.

Today, running is a pure joy. The fact that I CAN RUN is a blessing and I don’t take it for granted. I make it a point to enjoy every moment, and stay away from the competitive running mindset that led to injury in the past. I can already run pretty far, and a decent pace, and I can sprint fast enough to surprise most people. Sure, I could probably increase my speed a little if I changed my running technique to include heel-striking, but since I’m not in a hurry or running for my life, I’ll content myself with a slightly calmer pace. If I ever did have to run for my life, I’m sure I’ll use the fastest method possible then.

I guess you could say that I’m taking a “Slow Fitness” approach to running. I’m in it for the long haul, and I’d like to run well into old age. There’s no point trying to push to the limit, or exceed my potential every single run. I’d rather progress slowly over time and keep my gains, than progress quickly and have to quit due to injury.

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The Perfect Run Through My Neighborhood

Today’s run was perfect because I incorporated all of the above tips. To top it off, I had my dog, Ronin, trotting by my side. I got a chance to say hello to three children and have them pet my dog. Ronin and I even got chased down the street by a fiesty German shepherd dog. I smelled and felt the wind, and I wasn’t exhausted when I was done. It was exploratory, it wasn’t a race – nowhere to be, nowhere to go, just running. When we got home, we both drank from the hose in the backyard!

More Running Resources:

The Definitive Guide to Going Barefoot

John races his dog Ronin in a barefoot sprint contest (video)

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen – I’ve heard nothing but positive reports from people who have read this book. It’s number three in my book reading queue. My review is forthcoming.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and Running Enthusiast