What strategies can you use to help keep your joints healthy and flexible?

Exercise. There’s a common urban legend that exercise is bad for your joints.

Most people have little appreciation for how powerful exercise can be in supporting joint function. Vigorous low-impact exercise is beneficial – for your joints, as well as for cardiovascular, pulmonary, and other systems in your body.

It’s simply a myth that you can ‘wear down’ your knees just from average levels of exercise – and/or normal activity. In fact, inactivity causes your muscles to become weaker and actually works against optimal joint flexibility and comfort.

One caution, however when using this valuable tool, you need to start slowly if you have not been exercising regularly, and build up to higher activity levels otherwise you risk incurring an injury that could cause really set you back..

If typical vigorous exercise is not easy for you, try walking, tai chi and yoga… as they are very low impact, yet offer many health benefits.

Achieve your optimal weight to improve your bio-mechanic function.

One of the outstanding benefits of exercise is its ability to help you achieve and maintain your ideal weight – which is highly beneficial to your joints.

Overweight and obese people compromise joint comfort more than those who are carrying their ideal load. Each additional kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body mass increases the compressive load over your knee by roughly 4 kilograms (nearly 9 pounds).

Research shows that a weight loss of as little as 11 pounds can have a positive effect on joint function. And those who are at their optimal weight experience increased joint health as compared to those who are obese or overweight.

So you go full circle – losing weight reduces the load on your joints and makes it easier to exercise, and exercising helps you lose weight and supports your joint health.
Eat a higher quality diet.

Eliminate sugar and starchy carbs from your diet. And definitely stop drinking soda. These foods do absolutely nothing to support healthy joints or a healthy body. In fact, their potential for damage is well documented.

Optimize your vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D also supports a healthy immune response. Please recognize that during the fall, winter and early spring in most of the U.S., Canada, and Europe, your vitamin D levels can drop precipitously. If your levels fall, you give up the support this vitamin offers for your joints and your whole body.

Get plenty of omega-3 fatty acids from high quality fish oil. Omega-3′s support your joint health.

Martin Berkhan is interviewed here check it out.

It’s a great read on Intermittent Fasting and a way of eating.

Click here: Martin Berkhan And Intermittent Fasting Interview

Check out this study off Pubmed Link

J Strength Cond Res. 2003 Nov;17(4):638-44.
Effects of aerobic exercise on strength performance following various periods of recovery.

School of Physical Education, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. sporer@interchange.ubc.ca
Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if the type and intensity of aerobic training affects performance in a subsequent strength-training session after varying periods of recovery. Sixteen male subjects participated in the study and were divided into 2 groups based on aerobic training, high-intensity intervals (MAX n = and continuous submaximal (SUB n = 8). Each subject performed 4 sets of both bench press and leg press at approximately 75% 1 repetition maximum (1RM) following aerobic training with recovery periods of 4, 8, and 24 hours, as well as once in a control condition. Both the 4- and 8-hour conditions resulted in fewer total leg press repetitions than the control and 24-hour conditions. There was no difference between both the control and 24-hour conditions. No main effect was shown with respect to the type of aerobic training. It was concluded that when aerobic training precedes strength training, the volume of work that can be performed is diminished for up to 8 hours. This impairment appears to be localized to the muscle groups involved in the aerobic training.

They basically set up the study to see if aerobic training had any impact on a subsequent strength training workout.

The participants performed some aerobic training followed by a test of their strength at 4, 8, and 24 hours later. These results were compared to a control test of their strength without any prior cardio. (Leg Press and Bench Press).

The conclusion was that there was a strength DECREASE at both 4 and 8 hours after the aerobic training.

Hit it HARD, then chill out…

Robert Currie started his journey just over a year ago when he decided to be a Warrior In Shape. He wanted to be dedicated to his martial arts and in becoming a black belt in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu he felt it meant also be in in good health and warrior shape for his journey. So before his testing he did just that and became a Warrior In Shape. Here is his story….. And I look forward to seeing him earn his 2nd degree black belt coming this March.

Hey Shihan Dan Ordoins,

Here is my journey on the path of being a Warrior In Shape.

I’ve studied Tae Kwon Do, Gracie jujitsu, and now Bujinkan. Bujinkan is the only one I’ve achieved a black belt in. When I started Bujinkan 3 years ago I was at about 320 lbs I’m now 215 lbs working for 190 lbs. My whole life I’d been over weight, always the fat kid no matter if I worked out nothing changed much. So I sat down at a computer knowing I couldn’t continue to do ninjutsu the way I wanted to unless I got this body fat off me, so I studied, read your warrior in shape posts, tried different things and asked questions to people who knew about nutrition, I found I was eating too much and that I was eating to many simple Carbs such as white bread, chips, HFCS and other sugars, and eating McDonalds and not eating enough of real food. I now have a mad obsession with broccoli LOL, I also studied the work outs I was doing which was very basic it was what I learned in high school football, and switched and brought in P90X, my main work outs right now are
Monday – Core Synergistics + cardio
Tuesday – Bujinkan for 2 hrs
Wednesday – yoga
Thursday – Bujinkan for 2 hr’s
Friday – Plyometrix
Saturday – Bujinkan for 4 hr
I switch it up after 3 weeks.

With the right nutrition though it just seems to fall off even without working out, working out just moves it along faster, especially with the right work out not to many people work their core they think sit ups and crunches are enough but you’re core is more then just your stomach. Attached is the before picture and a picture from last night.

Thanks
Rob

Visit Robert on Facebook.

Before

After

Keep going Robert…. Your a great example of a Warrior In Shape.

Even though I get most of my ab workout from not direct compound movements like squats, dead-lifts etc. here is a great supplement exercise for the abs. It allows you to progress with weight and take the stress off the back….. It pretty much actives it all….

Have a great workout and stay healthy…

Train like a Warrior In Shape!

Exercise There’s a common urban legend that exercise is bad for your joints.

Most people have little appreciation for how powerful exercise can be in supporting joint function. Vigorous low-impact exercise is beneficial – for your joints, as well as for cardiovascular, pulmonary, and other systems in your body.

It’s simply a myth that you can ‘wear down’ your knees just from average levels of exercise – and/or normal activity. In fact, inactivity causes your muscles to become weaker and actually works against optimal joint flexibility and comfort.

One caution, however when using this valuable tool, you need to start slowly if you have not been exercising regularly, and build up to higher activity levels otherwise you risk incurring an injury that could cause really set you back..

If typical vigorous exercise is not easy for you, try walking, tai chi and yoga… as they are very low impact, yet offer many health benefits.

Keep on the Warrior In Shape path and move those joints….

Here is a rough edited clip of the Bujinkan San Shin 5×5 workout.

It can be done once through as a warm up of gone through multiple times as a great workout.

As always stay fit and train as a Warrior In Shape!

When fat loss and retaining lean muscle: An energy deficit + time + adequate protein intake + resistance training will yield the most optimal ratio for fat loss and lean body mass retention.

When you combine intermittent fasting with fat loss, benefits are in store.

First, as we all know, a restricted intake will eventually leave a person tired, cranky and performance will sometimes diminish if the proper precautions aren’t taken. Secondly, it’s common for the average dieter, who attempts to lose body fat, to perform too much exercise, and burn out rather quickly.

With intermittent fasting, contrary to popular belief, energy levels may actually increase during the fasting period due to catecholamine production and other increases in hormones such as noradrenaline.

However, while energy balance is what truly matters when trying to drop body fat, one of the biggest advantages intermittent fasting poses is the satiety factor. When most discuss dieting and it’s many woes, the multiple meal issue is one that comes up most frequently. For the majority of all informed fitness enthusiasts, it’s common to divide your daily intake into 5-6 small servings throughout the day.

The problem lies in the fact that many can’t stick to such a regimen for 2 reasons.

* It sucks to prepare that many meals – time constraints.
* Most of these meals are fit for a bird, which creates a compliance/satiety issue, especially for small females.

In my experience, as well as those I’ve dealt with, feeling full is important in terms of adherence. If you cannot stick with the calorie guidelines to drop body fat, you won’t reach your goals.

In saying that, I find it most satisfying to eat only 2-3 meals per day when on a diet and to place them in a 6-8 hour window. This allows a person the time to prepare real, tasty food and it helps one to achieve a fed feeling that comforts the majority.

Who likes to be hungry all the time?

Since fasting improves insulin sensitivity, partitioning may be more favorable for those looking to adopt a fasting lifestyle and build muscle as the same time.

Since it’s impossible to cover everything, here are a few more sources to get you started in the right direction if you’re interested in educating yourself about the benefits of intermittent fasting.

* Leangains – His information is rock solid and backed by research.
* Mark’s Daily Apple – Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy? Mark has a ton of solid information as well on the subject of fasting. Be sure to check him out. The recipes on his site are also pretty awesome, too.
* Stop Eating Breakfast – check out this article written on the subject. Why You Should Be Skipping Breakfast.

So what about you? Have you ever incorporated intermittent fasting into your lifestyle?

Now there’s 101 ways to skin a cat. In knowing this, it’s best to take a look from multiple angles, enjoy the process of increasing ones knowledge objectively, and then make an educated decision.

The Warrior Diet – Due to the popularity of the author, you’ve likely heard of this book and the concept. Ori Hofmekler is well known in the fasting community, however his diet is not exactly fasting per say. It’s more of a controlled period of deliberate underfeeding (20 hours total) followed by 4 hours of overfeeding. During the underfeeding phase, nuts, fruits and veggies are allowed while the bulk of calories are consumed in the evening, usually 2-3 hours before bed.

Making up for all the calories in such a small time frame is a real struggle – even more so if I try to get my daily minimum of fruit and veggies in.

Eat Stop Eat – Just as the name implies, you eat a little bit, you stop, then you eat again. Eat Stop Eat is similar to alternate day fasting, but instead of fasting every other day, you fast for 24 hours only 1-2 times per week depending on your goals.

Brad’s diet is more lifestyle-focused and not necessarily targeted for the athlete looking to drop body fat and build or maintain the most muscle mass possible. However, I know of many who’ve had much success losing body fat and keeping it off with such an approach.

Leangains – Martin Berkhan has done a phenomenal job with his methods. In short, his approach consists of a 14-16 hour fast (primarily in the morning-mid afternoon) followed by an 8-10 hour feeding window. As far as I can tell, if you’re solely interested in intermittent fasting whilst maintaining or improving athletic ability, this is the most optimal approach to date.

I’ve incorporated his methods many times with much success and find myself reverting back to the fasting lifestyle as of late due to my constant yearning for simplicity and practicality.

*****I had a great question on how to develop and get your abs to show*****.

On our Facebook page “Warrior In Shape”

Here was my answer. I thought others may want to hear it too……
…
Great to hear your liking my tips. Thanks for the feed back.

Most likely your doing to much ab work. Remember abs are made in the kitchen through a healthy diet and not by numerous crunches, sit ups and Ab work.

I would say cut your Ab work to once to two workouts a week. most likely once for you.

In that workout pick an Ab exercise where you will only be able to perform between 8-12 reps. Cable crunches or a machine or decline weighted crunches are good.

Your going to do 2 sets. The fist will be the heaviest. Your trying to get 8-12 reps when you hit failure or one rep before failure. the second set make lighter and do again between 8-12. Then that’s it. Short hard an intense. Do this once a week.

Now the diet…. This is where you will get your abs to pop out or show.

Eat a good clean diet with healthy while foods including protein at each meal.

If your feeling bloated or your stomach is feeling the same it may be due to eating grains and sugar.

Try cutting grains out especially white breads and things. Also sugar, cut from your diet. Things like candy, ice-cream, soda etc. I’m not saying you can never have them but use them as treats on special occasions. But to get your abs to show, you’ll need to curb this for a while. Do a little carb and sugar control and include protein at each meal. The idea is to shed fat but maintain lean muscle mass.

This will help show case your abs. And a side benefit make you a healthier Warrior.

Let me know how it works.

—- Dan

Be sure to check us out on Facebook to see more great tips on being a Warrior In Shape….

Testamonial

“Nice good advice here using some of your advice has helped me quite a bit, when I first started this I was 325lbs I’m now 219lbs trying to get down to 195lbs cut over a foot off my waist line, abs are starting to show now, and also feel great too.”