Isometrics

 Isometrics in your living room

Work Out Like a 4 Year Old podcast on PaleoJays Smoothie Cafe

Most people work out all wrong!  They get in their car, and drive to a gym to exercise.  Or, if they have wised up over time- they skip all of that, and have a home gym setup at home, in their garage or basement.  That is fine, and what I have done for many years; the idea of driving to a gym and working out is fine in high school or college, and is how I exercised throughout my early 20’s.  It’s a good way to learn…

Then, you work out on a regular schedule in your home gym.  Weights in the basement, with a sturdy power rack are great.  You can get big and strong in this manner, which is great in your youth!  But as you age, what is the best way to stay fit?

Well, I maintain that working out in your living room or TV room if you have one is ideal!  Not only for you, but for your 4 year old grandson as well, and he can show you how:

Approach your workout like pure play, for that is what it ideally is.  All you really need is a space in front of the television, a yoga mat (to protect your carpet and cushion you a bit), a rebounder, and an Exergenie (ideally)  for isometrics.  I also recommend the Perfect Pushup, but get the pro or heavy duty model- high volume pushups will wear out a standard model quickly, while my heavy duty model has lasted more than a decade with no signs of wearing out!  The other thing I like to have is an ab roller, which is a wonderful exercise, but this is optional- straight-legged setups are just as good- I just like to do both.

When my 4 year old grandson is over, as he has been lately a lot, and we can’t go outside because it is so cold, I turn on the TV for him, and just observe.  He sets down my rebounder, and starts- jumping!  

If the TV is on for an hour, he jumps the whole time!  Sometimes, he may run into an adjacent room to get a toy to hold while jumping (Batman is a favorite), or to crouch down by his giant Batman cave toy, but he quickly resumes his jumping again.  I notice that when the action is exciting- (fast cartoon chase scenes and the like)- he jumps much higher and faster!  He gauges his intensity by how he feels at the moment in time, and this is the essence of intuitional training.  His endurance is off the charts!  I feel he should avoid strength training until he is at least 40 pounds or so…

He doesn’t do it for health, or because he should. He just does it naturally, out of joyful movement that is part of our humanness.  It feels good, and so he does it with gusto!  

We should do the same.  Now that I am in my 60’s, I have no desire to be big.  Strong is something else, something we should all aspire to improve, always!  Maintenance of musculature is one of the most important aspects of health, lifelong- but especially as we age.  So, isometrics are ideal, as they vastly increase strength, without huge additions of bulk!  No, just lean, corded muscle (and tendon improvements as well), that shapes and is the engine of your body.

I have a book I wrote a few years back that outlines my workouts, called Perfectly Paleo Exercise.  The ebook version is better, and cheaper, but the gist is here- I do virtual resistance exercise first, (after turning on the TV of course), and flex my muscles throughout their entire range of motion. Here is my basic outline right here, on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI65LRENdKo

This is the perfect core series of exercises for anyone, for all time!  Years ago they were called Tiger Moves, which I think is king of hokey- I like Virtual Exercise better.  But whatever- this type of weightless exercise, where the resistance is generated by you, yourself within the muscle is the safest, most productive way to maintain and improve all aspects of muscular fitness!  So start with that…

Then, get on the floor mat, and start stretching.  Start off with a long Asian squat, where you squat deeply with bare feet flat on the mat, and just relax in that position- this is the most beneficial, needed stretch that Westerners can do.  It takes the load off of your back, and is the basic ‘resting posture’ of human beings that don’t have chairs, worldwide.  Then, lie down on your back and stretch, get on all fours and stretch and move, and wind up in a back bridge if you can do so- I have daily for many years, and find it to be a total body stretch, and isometric hold that is invaluable!

Then, just as my grandson runs off to grab his Batman toy, I go to the wicker basket I keep all my minimal exercise gear in and grab my Exergenie.  Mine is an old one from the 1960’s that I got on Ebay years ago, and it is wonderful for isometrics- but, you can use a long strap just as effectively for the same purpose.  There is a product called the forearm forklift that works perfectly for this, although it is meant to move furniture without straining your back.  It is two nylon straps with built in handles, and it is great for isometrics, and also for moving heavy furniture!

Use your Exergenie or nylon straps to do presses, and curls, upright rows, bent rows, deadlifts and squats, and shoulder extensions.  I like to do 3 isometric stops for a hold of about 5 seconds at the beginning, middle, and end of each movement.  Very intense, really as intense as you’d like, depending on the TV action at the moment, and very effective for maximum strength!  Really, in 10 minutes you can cover the whole body very well indeed.

Then, I grab my rebounder just like my grandson, and start in to bouncing away!  This is wonderful for your lymph system, and also your cardio.  I like to do two more sets of Virtual resistance on the rebounder as I bounce, and find it to be wonderful for balance as well.  

You may want to wind up with manually resisted neck exercises, and bouncing while seated on the rebounder for a wonderful ab workout.  

I really can’t imagine waking up, and not doing this first thing every day, as I have for years.  Instantly energizing, and it covers all the bases.  Of course, I also do sets of pushups, straight legged situps, and ab wheels two times a week, then I usually omit the last rebounder sets.  And, I still go down to my basement gym a couple of times per week, mainly to do pushups on my gymnastic rings, pull-ups and ab curls, pistol squats with the rings, and isometrics on the power rack…

But that’s just me.  Those last are optional, just because I have my gym, and like using it.  All you really need are a mat, a TV, and a couple of straps.  And a rebounder, for total fitness and health!  For your whole life long.

And, a batman toy for the grandson!

Gain Maximum Strength in 10 MInutes per Day on Paleo Quick Tip of the Day

Isometrics with Chains and Incentive!

This is not a misprint or a mistaken statement: you can indeed gain your own ultimate strength potential in 10 minutes per day!

I mean that sincerely.  Now, it won’t bulk you up like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it WILL make you as strong as you, given your own frame and bodyweight, can be.  In FACT, this protocol will make you extremely ripped and lean, and strong beyond what anyone would ever suspect!  

Now, doesn’t that sound about perfect, really?  Who really wants to bulk up, especially after the age of 30 or so? Isn’t lean, sculpted strength and ability really what we are all after?  Especially amongst women- what woman wants to be bulky?   Don’t we all want strength and functional ability, strength that includes that of tendons and ligaments, and is there for us lifelong.  Real world strength and resiliance- the power to lift heavy things without injury, to manhandle weights and resistance beyond what the vast majority of our contemporaries can budge!  And for our whole lives long.

This goal can be achieved easily, and as I said in the title, in less than 10 minutes per day.  I do it in front of the television, each and almost every morning.  

You can use a nylon strap to do so, as I did for years, instead of a huge iron power rack such as serious weight lifters do!  I have one of those, and used it for years, but you don’t need one really- a strap or two will do.

There is a forearm forklift strap widely available that is ideal: two straps that are intended to be used to lift furniture and appliances, using the forearms to make the load much easier to handle when moving.  But actually, any strap that is 3 inches or so in width, that can handle a thousand pounds or more, is ideal.

The secret is Isometrics- pushing against an unmoveable resistance!  

Stand on the strap, let’s say you start on your left foot: push up as if you are lifting a heavy dumbell with your left arm overhead.  Only push a little above shoulder height, but push gradually as hard as you can- for about 5 seconds.  

Pause, and repeat: for 6 seconds.  Pause then again, and push as hard as you can for 7 or 8 seconds!  

You have just stimulated your left shoulder girdle, including tendons and ligaments along with the musculature to increase vastly in power and strength.

Next, do the same thing, but push at the half way point above shoulder height, 3 times again.  Then, just short of lockout, repeat 3 times.

You have just achieved, in a tiny amount of time, as you watched television, strengthening your entire left shoulder girdle maximally, and without risk of injury at all, in about a minute or so!

This is the beauty of isometrics!  Now, repeat the same protocol with the right hand. Another minute well spent!  

And so it goes, the most efficient 10 minutes you will ever spend, and you can do it daily to great effect!

After your shoulders, do curls with the exact same left-right protocol, and then do upright rows, followed by lateral shoulder raises, and then bent rows on each side, and finish up with deadlifts against the strap, from low to high, 3x; and finish with front squats against the strap from low to high.

You will be working against an unmovable resistance.  Don’t hold your breath, and breathe as you push, especially with the deadlifts and squats.  Don’t hold back your effort- after all, it is only a matter of seconds, culminating in minutes overall!

Believe it or not, this simple regimen will result in amazing strength increases over your entire body, with the visual results to match!  Pair this with a simple paleo diet of natural real foods, like meats and pastured eggs, no vegetable oils or grains, lots of green veggies and no processed foods: you will become the healthiest happiest you that you can possibly be!!

No gym membership, no “spinning” or jogging or weightlifting needed at all.  Just 10 minutes in the morning, and strict attention to diet.

BUT, if you are like me, you will like your results, and will want to take it a little farther:  

As long as you have already done your 10 essential minutes: why not infuse your muscles with oxygenating blood, since you are already watching TV in the early morning, before anyone else is up?  

So some pushups, and straight-legged situps.  And stretch for God’s sake, on the floor, increasing your mobility along with your rapidly increasing strength and resilience!  

It’s not a big time commitment, and you will find, as I have, that the payoff in health, strength, and simply in how wonderful you feel will be more than worth it!!

In fact, you will probably want to go even further into ancestral living, and will find yourself walking barefoot in a park or woodland, and doing pushups on gymnastic rings a couple of times per week-  

This is what is known as a positive addiction.  

Why I don't "Lift Heavy Things" for exercise...

This is why I recommend my book, Perfectly Paleo Exercise!

Within its pages you will find bodyweight, self-resisted, and isometric types of exercise, along with sprinting and heavyhands and ski pole forest walking.  Plenty of stretching, too... the sort of exercise that suits you for a long, functional, and healthy life.  And gives you an aesthetic type of build, not the bulky, blocky form of a troglodyte.

Beware of heavy weight lifting- it does not build total health!

The ONE Exercise you should be doing DAILY podcast pqtd

This is the starting pose... Just hold 3 or 4 times!

I know that the number one reason given for not exercising is TIME.  This is understandable, since our modern lives have become busy to a fault- it would be much better if we would winnow through the many things we do, like watching television and reading facebook, and make more time to exercise.  It would make us healthier in body and mind!

But, for those of you with young children especially, and also those of you with jobs taking up long hours, I know that time is of the essence, and so I have a strong recommendation for you:  

Do a full body isometric contraction 3 times in succession, several times per day!

That’s it.  Just stand relaxed, hands at your sides.  Then slowly contract every muscle in your body, starting with the calves, and gradually tensing each muscle group in your body, from thighs to butt, to abs to chest to back to shoulders- all just by isometrically tensing each group.  Keep breathing throughout, don’t hold your breath, but tense hard and hold for about 7 seconds.  Relax briefly, and then repeat two more times.  

Everyone has time for this exercise!  You can do it while pumping gas at the station, or in front of the tv.  You can do it in front of the bathroom mirror, which helps you to observe the tensing, and gain you better muscle control.  You can do it while frying eggs in the morning, or standing on the deck in the early morning, or in the evening as well.  

It takes a couple of minutes each time, and so that is about 6 minutes per day- and those minutes are spread out conveniently through the day.  And you will be surprised at the great effect it has not only on your physique, but on your circulation and blood pressure.

This was popularized in the 1980’s by a man named Dr. Kiveloff, but it has been used and written about since the 1960’s as a means to lower blood pressure.    It also has been used to help with controlling blood sugar in diabetics, and in improving the circulation of such patients as well.  Why not use it yourself, as a healthy person, and thereby prevent such problems from happening?  And, if you do have high blood pressure: this technique has been shown to lower blood pressure at least as well as prescription drugs.

So do it, daily!  You get more bang for your effort from isometrics than any other form of exercise: more raw strength, more tendon and ligament toughening, and almost no chance of injury.  It is a no-brainer, whether you are an experienced athlete of any type, or confined to a bed.  (You can even to it lying down!!

But I see it as a ‘gateway exercise drug’.  Once you see and feel what this simple addition of exercise does for you- you will be inspired to add in more.  Success breeds more success, and as you become healthier, you will want to add in more exercise- pushups, sit ups, heavy-hand of ski pole walking through the woods, stretching on the floor, virtual resistance or ‘tiger moves’-which are kind of “moving isometrics”.  I like to do that latter on a rebounder!

You get the idea: take a step in a healthy direction, and you will want to take more and more.  But for now, just do the isometric full body contraction!  Even if that is all you ever do, you will be a far healthier and happier person because of it.

Isometrics are the Best Exercise podcast on PJSC

Let’s say you are a very fit person, someone who has exercised pretty much your whole life, and definitely for the past 10 years or so.  You do resistance exercise, aerobic or cardio as well, and you stretch religiously.  I will say that you need isometrics!

And, on the other hand, let’s say you are a elderly person who has never exercised much, and definitely not in the past 10 years.  You really need isometrics!

How can each of these diametrically opposed situations have the same solution?  The answer is simple- isometrics will enhance your fitness, dramatically, in a very large way, no matter what your fitness level.

Very dramatic strength increases can be realized, very quickly, and with very little risk or danger, simply by doing a simple series of isometrics regularly!  No special equipment is needed, or even a change of clothing, and it can be done anywhere, anytime, in very little time.  

Isometrics have been shown to dramatically lower blood pressure, with no other changes in lifestyle.  Also, the strength increases also are beneficial for joints, strengthening the tendons and ligaments along with the muscles themselves.  Weight lifting pretty much bypasses the tendons and ligaments, concentrating on the bellies of the muscles first, which makes you more prone to injury.

Often, it is said that doing isometrics at a single angle only increases strength at that one angle.   Although technical true, if you simply do the same exercise at three angles- the start, the mid-point, and the near end-point of the motion, you effectively strengthen the entire strength curve!  I have found that a demanding, very effective isometric protocol takes about 10 minutes, total, to cover the whole body!

Here’s how you do it:  You will need a web cable, like a moving strap, at least 15 feet long.  About 2” wide is ideal; I use two moving straps I had that are each about 12 feet long.  I lay them on the floor, overlapping about a foot atop one another, and I step on the overlap, which locks them together.  Then, I grasp each strap, and run them overhead on each side, to where my hands are just above my shoulders, as if I am doing a military press with two dumbbells.  Then, I push upwards at about 80% or so of my power, for about 5 seconds.  Rest.  Repeat, for 6 seconds. Rest.  Repeat again for 7 seconds.  This is the protocol: 5,6, and then 7 seconds for each exercise in three positions.  

Next, I just lower my arms to my sides, still holding the straps, and do the same thing with curls: bottom, middle, and top extension, 5,6,7 seconds, at each position.  After that, I do bent over rows by bending over with the straps still held in each hand, and do all three positions from there, 5,6,7.  

Last, I do deadlifts, squatting down and at the bottom, push up with my thighs and back hard, 80% again, at the bottom position, the mid-point, and then near lock-out at the top.  I’m done!  I have covered my entire musculature, my shoulders, arms, back, and thighs completely, exhausting each muscle group in under 10 minutes!  I now do this pretty much daily, since it is so easy and time-efficient, and since I can do it in front of the television, easily, it doesn’t seem hard at all, or onerous.

Of course, I also exercise with virtual resistance exercise, rebounding, and calisthenics, it is no big deal to add in this last routine.  But, I will say that, if you only do this isometric routine, you will benefit hugely- especially if you don’t otherwise exercise!

The only downside that some might see is that this routine will not build much muscle bulk, or size. It will define and strengthen the muscles ideally, though, and the older I get I realize that is ideal- who really wants big, bulky, blocky muscles?  Think Bruce Lee’s physique, which while ideal, was not thick and bulky.  Bruce was a huge proponent of isometrics!  And how many women want thick, blocky physiques??

So do it- stand still and exercise!  Ideally, you will see and feel the benefits so strongly that you will be motivated to add in more, like pushups and straight-legged sit ups, and walking on a daily basis.  But, even if you just keep doing 10 minutes of exercise per day- you will reap huge, outsized benefits of health, fitness, and aesthetics, way beyond what you would with any other form of exercise, no matter how expensive, uncomfortable, and inconvenient.  Guaranteed.

Becoming a Ketogenic Diesel podcast on PJSC

OK, I mentioned last podcast that I had gotten a new tractor!  For anyone with an  acreage, anyone that has a small woods, a big lawn, and lots and lots of tasks that need to be performed on a regular basis- why then, you know just how important a tractor is to you.  

My old tractor was pretty darn good, since I had finally upgraded from a gas powered lawn tractor to a compact utility tractor.  This is a huge distinction, since a gas powered tractor such as that, that the vast majority of large property owners have, is much, much less useful, strong, and overall powerful than a real, CUT- that is, a Compact Utility Tractor!  A CUT has a far bigger, heavier frame, much larger tires, a 3 point hitch for all sorts of useful implements, and most importantly of all- it has a diesel engine.  

A diesel engine has much more torque, or useful pulling and other sorts of power, than a gas engine.  My little John Deere 650, still outside with the back blade and chains on for snow, is still running strong.  But, it only has 15 hp, which is pretty powerful when in the form of a diesel!  My new Kubota (both these machines are built in Japan, despite the green paint on the John Deere), has more than twice that much hp, is quite a bit larger, frame size wise, and the tires are huge in comparison.  It’s also much newer, orange (that’ll take some getting used to!), and- it has a big loader bucket on the front!

I’ve already experimented with the bucket, knocking over dead trees with it, pulling down big tree-sized branches that my old tractor couldn’t budge, and carrying firewood.  I spend time each day, walking my land and thinking about jobs I’ll do with it come spring in my woods.  Moving brush piles with the pallet loader, hauling firewood into orderly piles, and perhaps digging a small pond.  It is a huge boon to have that much useful power at my disposal, and doing various tasks will be a pure joy!

Now, wouldn’t you like to trade in your old body, that old gas or carbohydrate burning lawn tractor body that burns oil in the form aches and pains, and just doesn’t have that much useful power anymore?  Well, you can- just trade yourself in, by remaking yourself into a diesel compact utility tractor- a CUT!  

First, you need to start fueling yourself like a diesel human.  You need to switch from running on glucose from carbs and sugars, and move into a ketogenic sort of diet.  This means low carbs, very little sugars, and plenty of protein and fats!  It will be a change, but within a few weeks your body can transform itself into a diesel machine, running on ketones rather than glucose.  You will rarely be hungry, and you will begin running on your stored body fat preferentially over the last bagel or piece of bread you just ate.  Your energy will quickly become unlimited, just like my tractor!

While you do this, I also want you to hang up your stupid running shoes, and start walking around barefoot instead.  On the grass in spring and summer and fall, or just rebounding barefoot in your living room as I did this morning.  Soon, you will be the equivalent of human 4 wheel drive, with healthy feet that are never plagued with plantar fasciitis or the many other painful foot ailments those who constantly wear shoes are plagued with.  

Lastly, I want you to begin strengthening your very frame, by getting a long fabric loading or moving strap with which you can perform isometrics.  You can literally give your entire body a complete muscle, tendon, and ligament strengthening workout in 10 minutes using isometrics with such a simple strap!  Unlike weights, which only strengthen the musculature, leaving the tendons and ligaments largely unaffected and prone to pulls, tears, and strains, isometrics strengthen all of you.  Muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones!  

I like to take the strap, (which ironically is orange, just like my Kubota!), and stand on it, grasping with one hand at shoulder height.  I press upwards in a military press for about 5 seconds for 90% of max effort or so, and then relax.  Repeat, for a little longer, maybe 6 seconds, and then a third time for 7 seconds.  Then, sliding my hands up to about half way over my head, I repeat the three steps.  Next, I almost max out my “lift”, and press again almost at arm’s length for three times.

Now you get the idea!  Do the same thing on the other arm for military presses.  Then, do curls the same way, from the bottom most position holding the strap, halfway up, and almost to the top.  Both arms, 3 hard efforts at each of three positions of the lift.

Next, do a pushup isometric- trap the strap around your back, and holding the straps right in front of your chest, push!  The same drill, bottom of pushup, halfway up, and almost all the way up.  Then, do bent rows the same drill.  

Finish up with deadlifts, standing on the strap and lifting upwards quite hard with both hands grasping the strap- first low, then mid-point- then almost to the top!  Congratulations: you have done one session of strengthening your body into a CUT, a diesel tractor with a really strong, powerful, resilient and injury resistant frame.  

Stick with your new ketogenic type of diet, which is quite similar to a paleo diet if (hopefully) you’ve been following that.  But, when just starting out, thinking of it as a KETO diet makes it somewhat simpler to understand, and it will also act quite quickly.  Weight to lose will leave quickly, and muscle and frame strengthening will also occur quickly as well, with the change of diet and addition of isometrics!  

Other exercises, including work on the gymnastic rings, sit-ups and pushups, along with rebounding and barefoot sprinting, will literally transform you, from the weak little lawn mower you used to be, rusting and bent, with tiny wheels that mostly just spin on the grass when trying to pull, to a strong, tough, almost unbreakable diesel Tractor/Human that will go through life effortlessly, free of aches and pains, and as someone who will enjoy physical tasks rather than dreading them!  

Become a Diesel!

Isometrics are Wonderful

Here is the thing about isometrics: almost everyone dismisses them!

There is no rhyme or reason about it.  My feeling is that no one has actually looked at the research, or ever experimented with this form of exercise- I mean, how can it be that pushing hard against an immovable resistance for a matter of seconds can:

Lower blood pressure, dramatically!

Strengthen that muscle in a huge way, even throughout the muscle, not just in that particular angle!

Be done so fast, and so relatively painlessly!

Well, isometrics CAN do that, and it is just a shame that the benefits have been shoved aside. 

I believe that this is because conventional isotonic weight training- in paleo parlance ‘lifting heavy things’- has the “advantage” of building bulky types of muscle.  Big, chubby muscles that everyone can see, and say “Hey- have you been lifting weights??” 

If you have a fragile ego, like I did when I was 14 or so, to hear this is very gratifying.  And so, people tend to double down on the weight lifting! 

Many take it to extremes.  I did, and I know so many others.  Bigger is better, right? 

I’m here to tell you that no, it’s really not!

Bruce Lee figured this out, the hard way.  He was early in his career when he saw a photo of  Arnold Schwarzenegger in a muscle magazine of the time in the late 60’s or early 70’s.  It inspired him to take up heavy weight training, ala Arnold.

The result?  He injured his back, leading him to a drug dependency to alleviate the pain that eventually took his life!  Heavy weights, particularly squats will do that…

After he was injured, he returned to isometrics, resulting in a physique that was so amazing, that today it is still not only awesome, but timeless.

Trust me, lean, fit and ripped is WAY better than big, bulky, and- eventually- sagging and fat as you age.  And it’s even better at the moment, when you are young- far better!

Isometrics not only made him ripped to the bone, they also made him much more efficient as a fighter, much ‘lighter’ yet stronger, functionally.   They even partially cured his pain from weight training, but only partially.  Heavy weights are ultimately debilitating… and so are heavy things!

So, don’t lift heavy things, at least not for exercise- only because you need to move something heavy!  (What a concept)!  When you exercise, use either-

Light weights, like your own body weight for high reps, as in pushups.

Self resisted movements, where you resist with one limb against another.

Virtual resistance- this is really the king of them all, the one exercise everyone should use daily!

And Isometrics, which are the fastest, simplest, easiest way to build lasting strength, joint health and fitness that there is!  And that almost no one uses.

And it is so simple: one way is to simply flex; do a “most muscular” pose, holding for several seconds.  Pretend you are Arnold, in front of a huge crowd at a bodybuilding competition- FLEX for all you are worth!  Relax briefly, then repeat- hold for 5 seconds, next for 6, and the last for 7.    Watch the second hand of a clock, because those seconds will go by really slowly, since you are really exerting yourself!!

I have a nylon strap, meant for moving things.  Unbreakable, can hold hundreds of pounds.  I use it when I do isometrics, and you should too!  Very inexpensive, and incredibly effective.

Do any standard weightlifting move- try a curl!  Stand on the strap, and grasp it so your arm is below parallel- curl upwards as hard as you can.  Do one rep of 5 seconds, another of 6, and then a third of 7.  Then, step off of the strap, and let it extend to just parellel- do the same thing.  Next, do the same thing, but with your arm up above shoulder height.  Do this same thing with both arms- your biceps should be totally stimulated to build muscle, along with your tendons and ligaments, which conventional weight training ignores!

Do the same thing, using your strap: military presses, bent over rows, squats and deadlifts; even pushups (holding the strap behind your back).  It really doesn’t take all that long, and addresses all the major muscle groups of your body!  You can also add in tricep extensions and side extensions for the shoulders… 

Congratulations- you have strengthened and improved all of the muscle groups of your body, along with your joint connections of tendons and ligaments, in a short, relatively painless workout that would make Bruce Lee proud! 

And you are building, and maintaining, a body that anyone would appreciate- not only when they are young, but as they age- a taut, muscular body that is not only resistant to joint problems, and problems of muscular weakness (sarcopenia)- you are creating a body that will be vital, strong, and free from pain…

For the rest of your life!

Check out this episode!

PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe podcast #91- Lower your blood pressure AND tone your whole body at the same time- Naturally!

There is something wonderful about doing isometrics for your health.  And I don’t mean anything fancy and contorted, like pushing against pins in a power rack- although that is great as well- but a simple, equipment-less exercise that you can do anywhere, standing or lying down- an isometric total body flex!

The benefits are amazing, particularly in lowering blood pressure naturally.
The circulation is enhanced to all parts of the body, even the peripheral areas like the feet and the hands.  And so, how do you perform this wonderful exercise?

You simply stand straight, and gradually tense all of the muscles of your body, while breathing normally, and count to 5 or 6.  Relax, and then repeat  three times- That’s it!  That burst of oxygenated blood throughout your body (and brain too!) is one of the most energizing things you can do for yourself!

It’s great in that it can be done at odd moments, like when you are standing waiting for something, or gassing up your car, or just standing in your yard grilling...  in everyones life there are more than enough occasions where you can slip in three or four “sets” of this total isometric body flex throughout your day, and reap the many benefits.

As in anything, the more you do it the better you will get at it- at first, just methodically flexing each muscle group in turn will enhance your mind to muscle connection, and your ability to flex muscle groups effectively will improve.  Besides the blood pressure benefits and the circulation benefits, this is a wonderful way to improve your definition, which is to say the muscle tone will dramatically improve, and your muscles will seem to “pop” out underneath your skin, ala ancient Greek statues!

 And you will feel the difference in your musculature, and become more aware of your body, and how to control it in any physical situation.

A good way to start your day is to do a set of the isometric total body flex upon awakening, in bed!  Yes, that’s right- it is every bit as effective lying down as it is standing up- and it’s a great way to kickstart your day with a really healthy habit that starts you off on the right foot!  At first, just flex moderately intensely, to get the feel of controlling your muscles, but you can and should aim at later gradually working up to perhaps flexes of about 80% of perceived effort- that is enough to get all the benefits, without over-straining, which is always a bad idea.

There is numerous medical literature proving the blood pressure lowering benefits of isometric exercise if you care to google it, as I did.  For instance, here is the conclusion of group of studies done recently by the Mayo Clinic-

Conclusion
Isometric resistance training lowers SBP, DBP, and mean arterial pressure. The magnitude of effect is larger than that previously reported in dynamic aerobic or resistance training. Our data suggest that this form of training has the potential to produce significant and clinically meaningful blood pressure reductions and could serve as an adjunctive exercise modality.



The studies go way back, and the results are always beneficial.  So why is the benefit of isometrics not taught and offered to people with high blood pressure, and bed ridden people, and folks recovering from injury that can’t do “normal” types of exercise?

I don’t really know, but again, just as in proper nutrition wherein we consume real foods as made by God and nature, bypassing the man made fake food like substances like GMO grains and processed crap-

THERE IS NOTHING TO SELL!

No exercise equipment, no gym memberships, no supplements or running shoes... NOTHING!

But hopefully I have just sold you on the idea of doing this simple and oh-so-beneficial exercise on a daily basis!  The cost, once you have acquired this knowledge, is just your brief efforts throughout the day.

Visualized resistance.  Most of us have never, or only briefly heard of, or understood the term.  Charles Atlas, and the old "kick sand in the skinny guy's face" comes to mind...

The truth is, this is the best, simplest, and most natural way to get and stay in shape!

You simply FLEX, just like those comic-book like bodybuilders do, but you do it in motion, for instance you do a slow biceps curl, without weights, but supply the resistance internally, as you slowly curl your arm up towards your shoulder, you flex really hard every inch of the way!

This is actually harder, believe it or not, than actually curling a barbell of dumb bell!  (If you do it correctly!)  Because you supply the resistance, there is no cheating- you work to the max every inch of the way up, and down!!

Try a few reps this way- I usually do 6 or 7, curling both arms at once...

I guarantee you will feel every inch of the exercise, and there will be NO danger of cheating, or of back injury from "swinging" and cheating the weight up - only pure, productive effort!

This manner of exercise can be repeated, easily, anywhere you choose, to great productive effect!

Just do exercises for each muscle group, and your total body will be energized, exercised to the max, and stimulated to greater strength and hypertrophy!

I will add exercises soon, in a sequence that I follow, that can be easily incorporated into your daily routine.  I promise!!

For now, just go to www.transformetrics.com

The exercises are all there, and discussed, dissected, and just plain Done!