Latest / The Ageless Warrior Lab / The Longevity Blueprint: 4 Laws to Keep You Training - Part 1 | EP 48

Transcript

The Longevity Blueprint: 4 Laws to Keep You Training - Part 1 | EP 48 · The Ageless Warrior Lab

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine you just got dropped into your body today.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: What would you be saying?
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'd definitely say, Dave, what have you done with my body?
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: It is all about your joints, baby.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, really, protect your joints.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to stay young, you have to act young in your mind and in your body.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Ageless Warrior Lab.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm BJJ Coral Belt and Dirty Dozen member Dave Meyer, here to draw wisdom from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the martial arts and explore how it applies to success in business, relationships, your long-term health, and making the most out of your life.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Last Saturday, I was training BJJ with my amazing crew of friends over at Black Sheep here in California.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: And someone half my age said to me, How are you still doing this at your age?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm 31 and I'm feeling it already in my back and in my knees.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm coming up on 64 years old, and literally everyone I train with is younger than me.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Most are way younger than me.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I get that question a lot about longevity, both in fighting, but also just generally in sports.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it comes down to four laws, which I'm going to share with you.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: But just before I do that, I want to point out that people, of course, are asking me this because I seem to have done something right.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I have, but I've also done some things wrong.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And those are important lessons as well.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's like how scientific journals only want to publish papers about experiments that had positive and interesting results.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: So if your experiment didn't confirm your hypothesis and showed no interesting results, that can't get published.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: But learning from failed experiments is also as important as learning from the successful ones.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's all useful information because it's important to know what doesn't work as well as what does.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, someone who has to quit a sport in their 30s or 40s also has important information about longevity, but their information is about what not to do.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: I only mentioned that to share that I've personally experienced both what to do and what not to do.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Some things I've done have gotten me to where I am, and others I wish I would have started way sooner because I've taken some damage.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: So think of me as your longevity scout that's gone ahead of you, and I'm feeding you this information so you can last even longer than I have.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So here are my highly secret and never before shared four laws for longevity in martial arts or any sport.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, injury is the enemy.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maintain and regain where necessary flexibility and joint mobility.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, exercise and stay fit and moving.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, maintain a good diet and know what, how much, and when to eat.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And number four, maintain the right attitude.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: And there you have it.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed this podcast and be sure to leave us a comment on the video and YouTube.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, I'm kidding.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, do leave comments.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: But these aren't secrets.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I actually have a lot to share on how to use these four laws to promote the best longevity for yourself.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: So let's take a look at each one and let me share with you what I've learned.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Law number one, injury is the enemy.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maintain and regain where necessary flexibility and joint mobility.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, injury avoidance and recovery is a constant for all the methods of staying useful.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll keep mentioning it because it's so important.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you remember only one thing from this podcast, remember this injury is the enemy.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: As for flexibility, if you tear something, there will be scar tissue you have to deal with to get back to your full flexibility, and that will take work and possibly massage or other therapies, which we'll talk about in a few minutes.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: There's the phrase, use it or lose it.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really true when it comes to your flexibility and mobility.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: When you see someone at a distance who looks old, it's often the way they're walking or carrying themselves that lets you know that they're old.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that's because they may be hunched over or taking shorter steps, and they're generally bound up physically and not moving with the ease and motion of a younger person.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Their movements are short and stiff, but you don't have to let that happen to you.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: You can remain functional like a much younger person, but remaining young in the body is a conscious action you have to take every day.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Use it or lose it.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now write that down.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because here's the thing, and no one ever tells you this, it's not your birthright to remain supple or healthy like a young person.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: You have to work for it.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Youth is as youth does.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: And what that means is you are your actions.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to stay young, you have to act young in your mind and in your body, especially as you're getting older.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever you do, don't act your age.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: People who know me know I live by that.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: In yoga, they say you're as young as your spine is flexible.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there's a lot of truth to that.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Continually keeping your spine and back and neck mobile helps circulate spinal fluid and keep stiffness at bay.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: We do lose suppleness in our body as we get older, and especially as we rack up injuries.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: I always say if you're going to drive your Cadillac or Rivian now down the highway of life, you're going to take a few dings.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: But that's a sign of an active life well lived.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: But we can repair those dings and don't have to end up in the wrecking yard any sooner than we need to.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's possible to lose suppleness and mobility way, way slower than most people think.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: If you actively work to keep your spine and neck flexible every day, you'll be in better spinal shape in your 60s than many people who are in their 30s.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's central to remaining active and fit.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Flexibility and mobility have other important benefits too for athletes and fighters.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: It means your body has more options.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Flexibility allows your body to be taken into positions that otherwise would have caused injuries, but don't for you.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: So your shoulder could get twisted in a way that would cause a tear for one person, but for you, it doesn't, and you can wiggle out.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Or someone twists your neck into a position that would injure someone else or at least force them to tap.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: But for you, it's no big deal, and you can either work your way out or your opponent sees they're not getting what they want, and so they move on to something else.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Or you're tossed hard onto your head or back.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: But because you're more relaxed and supple, you can shake it off without walking away stiff or even injured.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's how being flexible saves you from injuries.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And more than just avoiding what otherwise would cause injuries, being able to move your limbs into more positions allows you to create more angles to achieve better outcomes in your sport.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that's certainly true in fighting.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: For example, being more flexible for a stand-up fighter means more interesting angles for your high kicks.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or in grappling, it means more ways to catch your opponent in omaplatas or things like that, where your flexibility helps you to catch people.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: It also helps you have a better defensive guard.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: And in some cases, it opens up paths to use your limbs to help you escape from pins in ways that someone with less flexibility just can't do.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, ideally, you don't want to depend too much on your flexibility alone if you're a fighter, because you will lose flexibility over time.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: But maintaining as much as you can for as long as you can is always a good thing.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to emphasize again the idea use it or lose it is real, especially with flexibility and mobility.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Knowing the stretch isn't good enough if you never do the stretch.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: You need to take actions each day to preserve and regain, if needed, your flexibility and mobility.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is part of what I call doing your homework off the mat.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that's stretching and building strength and building endurance, et cetera.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: All to bring the best machine to the sport that you can.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I make a distinction here between flexibility and mobility.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to understand what I mean.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And both are important.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I wish somebody would have told me this when I was young.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Flexibility refers to your muscle and tendon length and your ability to extend into more positions.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: So to palm the floor when you touch your toes, or to do the splits, or to do a high bridge or back bend, or to put your head or chest to your knee on a hamstring stretch.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's sort of flexibility.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Mobility is more about joints maintaining full ranges of motion without being restricted.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: So your hand can go high behind your back, your head can roll and twist in all directions, your shoulders don't keep from being able to raise your arms high over your head, that sort of thing.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Mobility is also about just moving fluidly through the world as you walk and as you move about.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: So first let's look at maintaining flexibility, that elongation of muscles and tendons.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: You do this, obviously, through regular stretching and through injury avoidance.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was lucky to have parents who were really open to new ideas.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And my mom in particular was looking for ways to solve some health issues she had because standard medicine just wasn't helping her.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: She would always try new things, and she got my whole family into yoga back in the early 1970s, which was before yoga was really a thing in the US.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Back then, it was literally people who traveled back and forth from India to learn and wore white robes and turbans.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we took lessons out of this communal sort of mansion in Hollywood, California, called the Integral Yoga Institute.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, yoga is thousands of years old and has a lot of forms and styles.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: The yoga I learned back then was Hatha Yoga.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was much more static than what you see taught today.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: So more seated poses held for longer and virtually no jumping around.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: And a significant part of it was meditation and breathing exercises called pranayama.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you have an interest and if you've never looked into yoga, there's a ton to explore in terms of movement styles and pranayama breath work and history.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: So do look it up.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: But the flow styles you see today that have lots of movement are all relatively new and certainly from the last hundred years or less.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they have some good, but also some not good sides.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: On the good side, I think doing your yoga poses and stretching when you're really warm really helps, especially if you're stretching for improvement and not just to maintain what you already have.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: So stretching in a warmer room is better than in a cold room or than in a room with, you know, air conditioning blasting.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: There's B crumb or hot yoga, which is also a relatively new style.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's about 50 years old.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: But honestly, I think they can go a bit overboard with the heat there.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: You want to keep your body flexible, like rubber, but you don't want to melt.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Side note, rubber actually gets more stiff and contracts when it's heated.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Look that one up.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can win a bed at a party.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: But going back to stretching, I think flow styles like vinyasa and ashtanga and power yoga, etc., are good because more vigorous movement can build up internal heat.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that really helps maintain and increase your flexibility.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm all for that.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Another easy way to stretch when you're warm is to just do your stretching at the end of your exercise workouts, whatever your exercise is, not at the beginning.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: But where modern flow yoga styles lose me a little bit is when they become really athletic, which isn't in and of itself bad, but it can make it hard for new people to hang with the class, and it can even actually cause some injuries.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: We want yoga to preserve our bodies and not to injure them.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the term for a pose or a stance in yoga is asanas, or the more traditional Sanskrit pronunciation is asana.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's interesting to note that the term asana literally means seat.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Traditionally, an asana is a static posture where the body became so stable and at ease that it no longer distracted the mind.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: The whole purpose of the physical practice of yoga was to make it so your body could support meditation for hours to achieve inner awareness.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: But in today's yoga, asanas appear more as challenging movements to build your strength and stability and mobility.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Also, personally, I don't love when yoga instructors play modern or honestly any music during the yoga class.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Each movement should be coordinated with your breath, and especially with deep and long exhales that let you drop deeper into the pose or into the stretch.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: So when there's music, especially loud music, for me, it can make it hard to hear or sometimes even feel my own breath.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: And importantly, if the music has any kind of a beat or rhythm, it can make it hard for me to relax my breathing and breathe slower than the rhythm.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: At least it is for me as a musician.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: And what I want is slow, long exhales as I drop into the stretch.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to yoga, but the main takeaway here is that yoga as a form of stretching is, I think, really good.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: But understand that there are a lot of styles of yoga and check out different classes and teachers to find something that's right for you.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't have time or money for a yoga class and you don't want to follow along on a YouTube video at home or something like that, just make significant time every day.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean every day if you can to stretch.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And like exercise, which I'm going to get to, have your mainstay stretches that you always do, but remember to mix in new variations and new stretches all the time to keep your body challenged and keep growing.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if you stretch at home, like I do, hold your stretches for 20 seconds at least.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And as you stretch, explore small rocking movements and slight angle changes just to make it more interesting and useful for your body.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you're into BJJ and you want me to post a video on YouTube that's specific stretches for our sport that have helped me, leave me a comment on the show video on YouTube.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: And if there's enough interest, I will record and post something.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now I mentioned mobility, by which I mean joint mobility as opposed to the static stretches to elongate your muscles and tendons.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Mobility is about taking your joints through their full ranges of motion.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: So rolling your neck or circling your arms or legs, making hip rotations and those sorts of things.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Those little movements can seem pretty trivial and they only take a few minutes every day, but it will pay off because your joint mobility is the basis for all of your mobility.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: And similar to what I said about having more muscle and tendon flexibility, preventing injury by allowing your body to move further when challenged, it's the same with your joints.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you can keep your joints full range of motion, then especially in BJJ, where people are specifically attacking your joints, it can make something that would be an injury for someone else, just not an injury for you.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Or at least an appropriately flexible joint can give you that extra moment to tap before something goes too far and snaps.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: And here's perhaps the most important insight I've learned about longevity.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: It is all about your joints, baby.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, really, protect your joints.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Often when you see an older athlete who's lost muscle mass or stopped their sport entirely, the reason is joint injuries.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: You'll recover from muscle pulls, but serious joint injuries in your knees or shoulders, and even more so in your spine or neck, will end your career.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: The reason I can't pop off 35 pull-ups like I could when I was 30 isn't that I'm 64 years old.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's simply because my elbows and shoulders just can't handle the weight because of too many BJJ injuries.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm less buffed than I used to be because I've injured some joints to the degree that they just can't handle the exercise I want to put them through.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: So compromised joints leads you to lose muscle mass and suddenly you're looking like an older person.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: And while we do start to lose muscle mass as we age, that's just natural, it's mostly not your age itself making you lose muscle mass in your 50s and 60s.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: At least that's been my experience.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's that joints that you've injured or worn down can't support the level of exercise you need to maintain the mass of muscle that you used to carry.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: So my number one recommendation above all else is to protect your joints.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Can I shout that?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Protect your joints.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: That means regularly take your joints through their full range of motion to keep them flexible and avoid stiffness.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Warm up your joints before you train.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're in BJJ, friggin' tap.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Don't risk a joint injury just because your skill wasn't good enough to keep you out of a joint lock.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Tap fast and spend your limited minutes on the mat each day working on how to not get caught in joint locks and not how to resist them for the extra 30 seconds before you have to tap anyway.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's just not worth the chance of injury.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I gotta emphasize it's joint injury and degradation that will take you out of the sport, or at least will make you not be able to maintain the exercises you want to carry the muscle mass that you want.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, just before I leave stretching and mobility, I want to talk for a minute about massage.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, massage can have a lot of benefits.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And like yoga, there are a lot of kinds of massage.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm talking here about massage that can help you preserve your flexibility and mobility.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: What I am not talking about is a feel-good massage to calm and relax you, although that's totally great to do if you want to do that.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: But as we stretch and work our mobility, there are some areas of our body and some angles we just can't effectively reach or release on our own without another person helping, or without some tools or props, which we'll talk about.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: As for massage, there are angles only someone else can hit.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if they're dropping the point of their elbow down into your trapezius as you're sitting on a chair, or if they're gently taking your head through ranges of motion as you totally relax.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a big fan of shiatsu, which literally means finger pressure in Japanese, although the best shiatsu is often done with the point of the elbow, or with you laying on a mat and the therapist even dropping a knee down onto you.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: They choose specific points and drop in very specific pressure and they hold it, sometimes then making maybe small, you know, motions.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: So this isn't long flowing strokes across your body with lots of oil, which is great to move blood or get you to relax, but these are serious, specific trigger points that you just can't hit on yourself when you're doing your own stretching.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I have a ton to say about massage, and like yoga, and maybe even more so, I am a massage snob.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area and you know anyone who works with athletes and does great deep tissue massage, and I mean deep for real, please comment and let me know.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always trying to find somebody great.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: My epiphany about massage came many years ago, and here it is.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: If the therapist is putting calm and deep pressure into a spot of soft tissue, so a muscle or a tendon on your body, and it really hurts, rather than thinking about how much pressure the therapist is using, think of it as a signal that it's you who's tense.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: The pain is a message to you to let go, to return to your childlike suppleness.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: My point is you need to know how to receive a massage.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Pain and soreness means you need to relax and you need to allow in the pressure and don't resist it.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: So treat the massage therapist as someone who's simply identifying the places on your body where you now need to focus your attention and let the stress go.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Be in a dance with your therapist where they lead and you follow and listen to what they're finding in your body and tell your body to let it go and relax.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I admit this kind of deep massage is not for wimps.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: I shared a story about that in episode 35 on toughness when I talked about Okazaki Long Life Massage, one of my favorite massage modalities.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And there's also Thai massage where the therapist is literally walking on you and stretching your limbs as you passively relax.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: This could be really good, but you know, it can also be bad if you have joint injuries or if the person goes too hard.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, like any massage style, you just need to find the right person who can work with whatever limitations you may have.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Although, in my experience, Thai massage people who incidentally are almost always smaller women tend to do what they're going to do no matter what you ask for.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: So just know that going in.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: And even without a great deep tissue or shiatsu or time massage therapist, you can do a lot when you're stretching using tools and implements.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Some yoga styles use what they call props.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: That could be straps to wrap around your feet or light blocks or things like that to assist in your stretching.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: But for massage and your own personal stretching, I'm talking about foam rollers for you to roll out your back or roll out your thighs, stick rollers for you to roll out your legs and hamstrings, various neck devices to help you stretch and move your own neck.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: I also have an inversion table, which is great for relieving pressure on your back if you have space for it.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, have a hypervolt, which is the same thing as a Theragun.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's basically a handheld jackhammer that you can use to massage yourself or someone else.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: For my spine mobility, I have what's called a whale therapeutic backbench, which is a bench in the shape of a wave that you lay on top of face up, and your weight itself passively stretches your back as you conform to the shape of the bench.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: I will link to all these things in the show notes.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, there's the good old lacrosse ball, which, if you don't know what that is, it's a dense rubber ball about the size of a baseball.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta think that more lacrosse balls are used in people stretching at home than are actually used in the sport of lacrosse.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so you lay on the lacrosse ball in various positions, or you stand and put the ball between you and the wall, and you maneuver your body to get the ball to where you want it to be to put that slow, deep pressure I was talking about with shiatsu.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: My innovation here is sometimes the ball can be too slick and move away from the spot that you want when you're putting your pressure when you're laying on it.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you could use a baseball, which is less slippery than a lacrosse ball, but I literally use rocks.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: They don't roll and they have pointy edges and spots.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: This all started with me on a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat about 15 years ago, where we were sitting and meditating for literally 10 hours a day, and it was killing my back.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: I kept switching from meditation cushions to a chair to anything I could do to ease the tension in my neck and back.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Remember how I said the postures in yoga originally were designed to condition the body so yogis could sit and meditate for hours.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Clearly, I had not reached that level and I still haven't.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: So, in desperation, between sessions, I found two rocks about the size of my fist on a path outside my room.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I wrapped the rops in medical tape just to smooth out some of the sharper points.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I just laid down on them to relax my muscles between my shoulders and my neck.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: And between meditations, it was an absolute lifesaver.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I still have those rocks today.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I use them under my back and under my scapula and under my hip.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I use my body weight on the rocks like you would use a lacrosse ball, but the rocks won't roll away.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: So you can really just relax into it.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: So to sum up flexibility and mobility for longevity, you can't just know about it.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: You need to do it.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you need to do it every day or almost every day.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's important.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: So make the time.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: It'll pay off in the short term, but also years down the road.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can't do it on your own, then join a class or make a time to stretch with a friend or family member.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Make stretching and mobility exercises a daily ritual.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do it like the life you want to live depends on it because it does.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me on this.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, here's a test.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine if you can that you are yourself 10 or even 20 years ago.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: And imagine you just got dropped into your body today.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: What would you be saying?
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Feel how each part of your body feels right now and be honest with yourself.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: Move around a little bit.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: I know I'd be shocked and I'd be saying, wow, this hurts or that hurts, or why doesn't this move as far as it used to?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd definitely say, Dave, what have you done with my body?
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: The thing is, many changes happen slowly over time.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we just get used to them.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: But this experiment can help remind you about what you've already lost and that whatever path you're on may not be acceptable.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: So what I'm saying is notice and don't tolerate unnecessary aging in your body.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Work every day to stay young and supple, and stretching and joint mobility and smart deep massage to stay flexible is a big part of that.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now, law number two, exercise.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Stay fit and moving.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Here's some science for you.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's Newton's first law of motion.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: An object at rest tends to stay at rest.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: An object in motion tends to stay in motion.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: So set your life in motion.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: That means do the right things to achieve what you want.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: But specifically for your sports and physical longevity, set your body in motion and keep it in motion.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, use it or lose it.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: These aren't just words, they are immutable laws and they can change your life.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when I talk about the importance of exercise in your longevity, obviously, those of us who are competing at a high level, we know that requires regular and intense exercise.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: But for the long term, all you need is just some good general exercise, but doing it regularly, like every day, or six days a week if you need a day off.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: That should be a mix of cardio, could be running or sprinting or biking or swimming, but also strength training.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: Put your body under load.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Having a good basis of strength can protect you from injuries.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: And as we know, injury is the enemy.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Strength training also builds stronger bones, which is important as you age.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, this is a mistake many people make.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Strength that keeps you injury free and builds your longevity is different than muscle size.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Muscle size is for looks, but for longevity, you want functional tendon strength.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: Think of a chimp or a gorilla.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's not about being buff, although that can be good for dating.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Carpenters, plumbers, roofers, movers are some of the functionally strongest people, but they don't necessarily have Mr.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Olympian muscles.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: I did a whole episode on strength, you should check out, episode 11.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: I strongly advocate not always just repeating the same exercises again and again in every workout.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Your body adapts, as it should, and then you don't get as much benefit per hour spent exercising.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I recommend frequent variations in exercises.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean you don't have certain anchor exercises you always do, like a bench press or a squat or something like that.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: But I think you should vary your strength exercises across five dimensions: weight, speed, angle, levels, which I'll explain, and monolateral versus bilateral.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, real quick, let's go over these.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: Weight is obvious, varying the weight.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes lift heavy with fewer reps, sometimes lift lighter with more reps.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Heavy with fewer reps can build bigger explosive strength, and lighter and higher reps can build a more tenacious strength for your tendons.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Speed of your weightlifting.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes lift slowly and under careful control in both your contraction when you're lifting the weight up, also called concentric movement, and your retractions when you're bringing it back down under slow control.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Called in the gym eccentric, but technically it's properly pronounced eccentric movement.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not taking sides on how to pronounce it, I'm just the messenger here.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes instead of using slow control, you want to work with quick movements, move explosively.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: George Saint Pierre, when I spoke to him in episode 44, said that's how he's working these days, trying to move weights quickly through space.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sensei Mike Valentine, who I interviewed in episode 12, is also a fan of this kind of explosive work.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Even with relatively light weights, it's a ballistic style of movement popularized by Marv Marinovich, and it's really great for speed and explosiveness in sport.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, varying your angles.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Vary the angles of your movements.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: So keep adjusting the angle of the bench you work on between workouts each day.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: Or move through the gym, going from machine to machine, just working different angles that you don't normally work.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's important to just keep you strong in various ranges and not keep repeating only the same movements.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: Then there's what I call levels.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes interrupt your movement and hold the weight out at different levels, breaking the movement into smaller sections.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: Friends of mine are now calling this Meyer levels because they only hear it from me.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: But this has worked for me throughout my life.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: It takes more effort to get a weight in motion, but not as much effort to keep it in motion for the rest of the move.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's more Newtonian physics for you.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if you lift a weight halfway and then pause, it's hard then to start it moving again for the second half.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: And you can pause on two or three levels as you move out and back.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: You'll see how this makes any lift considerably harder.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, this is often how sport is.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: You're starting or finishing a motion with a partial bend in your arm or leg and not doing the full motion, which is what we often do in the gym.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes you should practice lifting weights with those partial movements, those levels.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, there's monolateral versus bilateral.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: This just means sometimes doing exercises with both legs or arms at the same time, like a bench press with a bar, but sometimes isolating just one leg or one arm and doing that move on its own.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: That could be a bench press with a single dumbbell, one arm at a time, or a leg extension or leg curl using only one leg at a time.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: So those are my highly condensed pointers on weightlifting.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: But the point for longevity is stay in motion and keep up a level of strength in all directions.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're traveling and you can't get into a gym, be disciplined and find a way to work out.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Here's one of the easiest travel hacks there is walk or run the stairs in the hotel.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you're not in a multi-story hotel, do a circuit of jump squats and burpees and push-ups and lunges with your back leg on the chair or bed, all with no weights but at high intensity and without a lot of rests.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: There's always a way to get a good workout if you're creative and not too lazy.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, remember, injury is the enemy.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm all about pushing hard and pushing through things.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: I've spent my life blasting upstairs and running sprints and doing crazy circuits and gyms and having people comment on my intensity.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm a big believer that when you exercise, you're not just training your body, but you're strengthening your spirit.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: But you have to know the difference between pain and injury.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Pain is a signal that doesn't always mean to stop, but you know what?
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it does.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: So listen to your body.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: When it comes to injury prevention during exercise, we should just spend a minute talking about warming up properly.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: This gets more important as you get older, and it really matters to decrease the chances of joint injury in particular.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: And this is true before exercise and definitely before BGJ or martial arts training.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Warming up is different than stretching.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, touch your toes and stretch out a bit before you train, but warming up, especially warming up your joints, means putting them through their range of motion under light load and building a little heat in your body before you start exercising for real.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's the smallest thing.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Just circle your hips or roll your neck or swing your arms or do whatever it takes to get your joints aware that they're about to be taxed and they need some blood to run through them.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're about to lift weights, just start with a super light set, you know, do a warm-up set first.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is the exercise and stay fit and moving law.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just talk a little bit about movement and longevity.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: As people get older, they get stiffer, especially if you're beating the crap out of yourself in BJJ year after year.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: But remember, I said you can spot an old person at a distance by how they're moving.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be that person.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Consciously carry yourself through space with a smooth stride, relaxed shoulders, even if you actually do feel stiff.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: Act as if you're a young person in your movements.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: And how you act is how you are.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, youth is as youth does.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you move like you have a more nimble body, then you do have a more nimble body.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you move like you have grace and smoothness, well, guess what?
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Then you have grace and smoothness.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: If you drop something on the floor, don't be lazy.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: Be willing to squat down instead of just bending over and picking it up.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: Take the little chances life gives you to work your ranges of motion.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you work at a desk, don't spend too much time in chairs in one sitting and definitely get the ergonomics right in terms of the screen and the keyboard height.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: It adds up over years.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: Same with hunching over your cell phone.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe use a standing desk or a tomato timer, which is just a timer that you can even set on your phone to remind you to stand up and move every 20 or 30 minutes or so.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: So keep regularly changing positions.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, my wife, if she's ever listening to this, is smacking her head against the wall because these are all things she tells me I need to do more of.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, honestly, she's right.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I understand it's hard when you get so focused on something that you're like in front of your computer and you just want to stay in the zone and get the thing done.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: But this becomes one of those times where our toughness works against us.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: Anyone else might feel the ache and just get up and move.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: But someone who's super disciplined and used to ignoring pain and discomfort will just power through.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing: you gotta pick the times when you need to power through and just don't always do it.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: Discipline your discipline and listen to your body.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, small actions, especially ones we repeat again and again over years, have big consequences.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: Write that one down.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Small actions, especially ones we repeat again and again over years, have big consequences.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: That means sitting for too many hours day after day.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as part of your exercise and movement for longevity, let's talk about proper rehab.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: If you're an athlete, you're gonna get injured now and again.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: That just goes with the turf.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: But how you recover can matter, especially years down the road.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: A famous jujitsu teacher and friend of mine, Professor Wally J, used to tell me how as he got older into his 70s and 80s, it felt like old injuries started just coming back and hurting again.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: And this is likely because back in his day, people didn't really rehab injuries so much as just getting past them.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's true, the body heals.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, I tell people that when they get injured.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: The body is a healing machine, it's constantly renewing itself.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: They say you basically have a new body every like 10 years or so.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: But when you have scar tissue, that doesn't just go away.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: Your body doesn't replace that with the original type of tissue.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: So beyond just getting past an injury, you need to actively try to work through scar tissue and be sure you're really recovering from an injury and not just getting past it.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is the point about adaptation.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: So try to follow me here because this is Dave philosophizing a bit.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: Normally, adaptation, I think, is a great thing.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's a superpower, really.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: We do it in BGJ all the time.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's how you can deal with a problem that's blocking you or a person who is stronger than you, or a life problem you just have to manage.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: You use what assets you have to adapt to the situation and find a way to survive and even win.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: I am all about the power of adaptation.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: Adaptation is amazing in the moment it's needed.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: But in the long term, your body's ability to adapt can actually work against you.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if you have some injury or weakness, you can work around it, but you might keep working around it forever.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: And at some point, the weakness you're working around and the dysfunction you're creating by having some other part of your body do extra work, work it shouldn't have to be doing, may well catch up to you.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: So it's much better to give some attention to truly healing and rehabbing an injury in the ways that preserve your body's proper kinesiological functioning and balance and don't just work around and get past an injury.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, like my old friend Wally said, when you get older, that extra work the other muscles are doing is gonna not be as effective.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna get that feeling of, wow, this injury is coming back.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: Even where there's no injury, if you just have a weakness that your body is always working around, and the body is amazing at finding workarounds, you may be wearing something down that you shouldn't be.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: Some injuries happen very fast, but many happen very slow, too slow to even see.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: And these are repetitive use injuries, and often they're due to something that you're doing again and again and again over years because of some imbalance in your body that you're not even aware of.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you notice you're weak in some area compared to other people, address that and try to maintain an overall balanced and fit body.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: The last thing I'll say about exercise and movement for longevity is the proverbial cold plunge.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be a cold tub, but even just a cold shower after a hard workout is amazing.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: Sustained cold on your joints can reduce inflammation, which is one of those small things that adds up over many years.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, it can also do wonders for your mood and your attitude.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we've talked here about my four secrets to longevity in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and sports generally.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: Number one was maintain and regain where necessary, flexibility and joint mobility.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: Injury is the enemy.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: And number two is exercise and stay fit and moving throughout your life.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: Still to come is number three, maintain a good diet and know what, how much, and when to eat.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: And number four, maintain the right attitude.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one of the things I'm going to say about diet is don't eat too much.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing about attitude is be willing to chill out a bit and go with the flow.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: And to that end, I've served up a big plate of info in the last 40 minutes.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: So let's go with the flow and give you some extra time to digest it all.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'll stop now and in the next show I'll come back and finish up with diet and attitude.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: I hope today's episode was helpful to you.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: Write a comment on YouTube and let me know what I got right and what, if anything, I got wrong.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: I read and reply to all comments.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're watching on YouTube, remember to subscribe and click the bell to get notified when the new episodes drop.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: And stay tuned for part two on this topic.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks to my team, Robbie, Phil, Kyle, Angela, and to Ryan Peach Turner, my producer and chief editor, for your help.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be back with more lessons from the lab.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: And until then, keep developing your strengths, your wisdom, and go out and do good in the world.