Don't Neglect Planes of Motion Training

Don't Neglect Planes of Motion Training

Many of us could benefit from more "planes of motion" training in our workouts. In a nutshell, the body is designed to move in three planes of motion: sagittal (like in a squat or bicep curl), frontal (like in a lateral lunge or side cable raise) and transverse (like in a "curtsy" lunge or a bicycle crunch). Most of us live almost exclusively in the sagittal plane limiting our functional mobility, strength and performance. Read more about the importance of planes of motion. in addition to standard sagittal exercises (which are still great) consider layering in more frontal and traverse moves to your program for your lower body, upper body and core.

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JJFit in the News: Do You Know the 5 Components of Fitness? (Openfit)

JJFit in the News: Do You Know the 5 Components of Fitness? (Openfit)

The term “physical fitness” is used to characterize everything from a person’s physique to their general health and athletic performance. But while different definitions leave some room for subjective interpretation, most share five components of fitness in common. So, what are the five components of physical fitness and, more importantly, what can you do to develop them? Check out this article from Openfit.com for more on cardiorespiratory capacity, strength, endurance, body composition and mobility.

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E-Stim, Cupping, Compression and K-Tape for Pain Management

E-Stim, Cupping, Compression and K-Tape for Pain Management

I suffer from occasional muscle spasms in my back, hip and leg due to an old injury. Years of mobility, strength and core training plus the care of some amazing chiropractors, physical therapists and CMTs have minimized my flare ups. As long as I’m careful and catch signs of trouble early I’m usually golden. But every once and a while I get a doozy of an attack and when I do, in addition to traditional chiropractic and massage, these four treatments help reduce my pain and get me back on my feet again.

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JJFit in the News: How to Work Out on the Keto Diet (LIVESTRONG.com)

JJFit in the News: How to Work Out on the Keto Diet (LIVESTRONG.com)

Following the low-carb, high-fat keto diet can have some desirable effects on the body. It’s been shown to accelerate weight loss, reduce seizures in children and help people manage diabetes. The keto diet will likely also affect the way your body handles a workout, though there’s some debate over whether exercising while in ketosis helps or hurts performance. Check out my interview for LiveStrong.com to learn how you may want to adjust your workouts if you go keto, how to survive the "keto flu" and other considerations when deciding whether keto is right for you.

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The Best 5 Minute Warm Up and 14 Other Running Tips

The Best 5 Minute Warm Up and 14 Other Running Tips

If you follow me on Facebook or IG you know I caught the running bug this year. I finished my first half marathon in under two hours and managed to log 13-20 mile runs four weeks in a row without injury. This is a huge change for me. Before this year I’d never managed to get more than 5 miles without pain. I credit my improvement to working on my ankle mobility, having my gait analyzed and spending just five minutes prepping my body to run with this simple, effective warm up routine. Check it out along with 14 of my other best running tips.

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Roll Your Feet for Improved Mobility and Performance

Roll Your Feet for Improved Mobility and Performance

Too many people overlook the all important foot when warming up for cardio or lifting. Dysfunction in the feet leads to pain, injury, poor performance up the chain and a bevy of other nasty stuff. Simply rolling your feet for ~90s/day stimulates proprioceptors that send important information to the brain, fixes many common form issues and keeps the fascia, intrinsic muscles and joints of the feet mobile and healthy.

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What I Learned from a RUNANATOMY Assessment

What I Learned from a RUNANATOMY Assessment

If you follow me on social media you've likely caught on that I'm running the SF Half Marathon in July with #teamunicorn. But I wanted to be smart about this. I realized there could be some dangers to running 20-30+ miles per week over many months. So before I really amped up my training, I worked with the awesome Dr. Justin Jellin, DPT, ART to have my running gate, muscle output and form professionally analyzed in a RUNATOMY assessment. I interviewed Dr. Jellin for JJ Fit 24/7 so you can learn more about RUNATOMY and decide whether you could benefit from a similar experience.

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Don't Skip These Key Warm Ups (They Only Take About 5 Minutes)

Don't Skip These Key Warm Ups (They Only Take About 5 Minutes)

If you're one of those people who struggles to find time to workout, much less time to warm up properly, I can relate. One of the biggest complaints I hear from clients, especially those who have gone through physical therapy to recover from an injury, is that their list of warm up exercises would take them 30-45+ minutes to finish and they just don't have the time to get them all done. So they skip their warm up alltogether even though they know it will likely lead to more pain and injury. So, if you are short on time and can only muster a few minutes to warm up before your run, bike ride or any other form of cardio, here are the most important things NOT to skip. 

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Kinesiology Taping for Pain, Posture and Performance

Kinesiology Taping for Pain, Posture and Performance

I recently spent an entire weekend geeking out over fascia, feet and movement with the amazing Dr. Courtney Conley. It was awesome to be in a room with dozens of physical therapists, chiropractors, emergency responders and massage therapists all focused on helping our clients reduce pain and improve their movement. I left the weekend not only with two FMT certifications for assessing clients and applying kinesiology tape, but with a renewed passion and fascination for how the brain and body are connected and how we can improve that connection through physical stimulus like kinesiology tape. 

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Welcome Sumner Weldon to SoulCycle NorCal

Welcome Sumner Weldon to SoulCycle NorCal

It's no secret that when I can snag 45m-60m away from the gym I love a good SoulCycle class. When I stumbled into Sumner Weldon's class recently I knew I hit gold. Her energy is awesome and her class is a solid workout. She includes some really awesome stretches and mobility drills after the weights section that no other instructors are doing and are MUCH needed for today's rider. So I was thrilled to connect with her after class to learn more about her.

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The Best Stretches to Help with Back and Hip Pain

The Best Stretches to Help with Back and Hip Pain

Lower back and hip pain is incredibly common thanks to the hours and hours we spend sitting and toiling away on computers and devices. Finding the right stretches, mobility drills and strengthening exercises that will help reset your body and spending a few minutes each day consistently performing them can help keep you pain free and tracking toward your fitness goals. If lower back and hip aches and pains are slowing you down, give these exercises a try. 

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Expert Spotlight: Dr. Brad Bailey of SF Custom Chiropractic

Expert Spotlight: Dr. Brad Bailey of SF Custom Chiropractic

I am regularly asked who I trust for chiropractic and soft tissue work. For many years I've worked with the amazing team at SF Custom Chiropractic (SFCC) led by Dr. Adam Jacobs. Dr. Jacobs and his wunderkind associate Dr. Brad Bailey have not only helped me, but have helped dozens of my clients achieve pain free movement, better range of motion and structural symmetry though an integrative approach that includes soft tissue work like ART, chiropractic adjustments, clinical massage and kinesiotaping. They have become my trusted partners for my own body and the bodies of my clients and we often collaborate together to ensure treatment and training programs are aligned. 

 

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What We Can Learn from Metabolic Testing

What We Can Learn from Metabolic Testing

I'm a big fan of knowing what's going on with my body. And if there are simple, affordable tests I can take that can give me useful, actionable data to improve my health and inform my fitness program I'm all for it. So I recently engaged a local office of DexaFit to obtain a Dexa Scan Body Composition Analysis, RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) Test, V02 Max Test and  Fit3D Posture Scan. In this post I outline what I learned from these tests and how I am applying that knowledge to optimize my fitness program. I've also included links to my full reports and photos from my experience to help you decide if similar testing makes sense for you.

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Ultimate Guide to Ergonomic Workstations

Ultimate Guide to Ergonomic Workstations

If you work in an office like most humans these days, you probably spend a large portion of your day at a desk. This means you can be sitting for hours and hours throughout the day which can be uncomfortable if you don't have the right computer chair or posture. I was pleased to contribute to this Ultimate Guide to Ergonomic Workstations along with 14 other health and fitness pros to explain the best tools for your office and the best ways to maintain great posture throughout your day. Get all 15 tips here

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How Weak Ankles and Ankle Mobility Affect the Rest of Your Body

How Weak Ankles and Ankle Mobility Affect the Rest of Your Body

As a successful personal trainer for Equinox in San Francisco I’ve worked with hundreds of clients. They want to be lean. They want to be strong. They want to be healthy. But no one ever says “I want strong feet and mobile ankles.” Yet weak feet are often the biggest roadblocks to achieving their health goals. The ankle is one of our most important and commonly overlooked joints. Pain and injuries in the knees, hips and lower back can often be traced to issues at the ankle joint. Think of how often and how many ways we use our ankles: walking, running, biking, squatting, yoga, balancing, dancing (you get the idea). If the muscles acting on your ankle are chronically tight or if the joint itself is jammed or lacks proper mobility the impact can be painful and damaging as the body will compensate at other joints to accommodate movement. Check out my interview in Shape Magazine to learn how to improve your ankle mobility, reduce pain and improve performance in your workouts.

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Better Posture in the Workplace

Better Posture in the Workplace

The folks at Bowflex Insider asked me and Carrie Schmitz, Senior Manager of Human Factors & Ergonomics Research at standing-desk manufacturer Ergotron, to explain the impact your workplace posture can have on your health. Curious how to set up your workstation? Checkout this short piece including a handy infographic. 

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8 Ways for Baby Boomers to Maintain Their Agility

8 Ways for Baby Boomers to Maintain Their Agility

I'm grateful to the folks at U.S. News & World Report for including me in this important piece geared toward helping the more than 74 million baby boomers out there improve their movement and posture. These are excellent tips for everyone regardless of your age. Checkout the full slideshow here.

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Curious About Cupping? Dr. Jay and JJ Demo How It Can Improve Fascia

Curious About Cupping? Dr. Jay and JJ Demo How It Can Improve Fascia

From Michael Phelps to Ryan Seacrest to the girl squatting next to you in the gym, cupping (or "myofascial decompression") is becoming an increasingly popular modality to help with fascial dysfunction. Perfectly round telltale "bruises" are making their way onto backs, shoulders and hips everywhere and are raising eyebrows from those who don't understand what they are. I've personally experienced positive results from cupping as part of an integrated physical therapy program in the past. So I enlisted the awesome Dr. Sarah Jay from GSPORTS Physical Therapy to discuss and demonstrate how cupping can help improve fascial health and mobility. 

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