Rebuilding My Knees.

A year ago my knees were pretty shot. I could barely half squat, and my right knee would regularly lock up while training jiu-jitsu.

Around that time I heard an interview with Ben Patrick and found out my buddy Noah had been doing his "knees over toes" training program for a few months with great success.

I immediately started on the knee ability zero program and dropped all other training. I quit rolling and only drilled at BJJ class for a few weeks to keep some stress off the knees as well.

Within 2-3 months my knees were no longer locking up or "shifting" during training and now a year later I'm finally progressing to some loaded squatting again. Nothing impressive by any means, but yesterday's session I was able to go full range of motion in a slantboard squat for 5 sets of 5 reps with a 55lb bar and 95lbs of band tension - with ZERO pain.

As I've gotten older, I've definitely shifted the focus of my own strength training to longevity and joint health. This does not mean I don't plan to push my strength up in the lifts I am training, it just means that I will focus on getting stronger, pain free, through a full and complete range of motion on the lifts.

I can't recommend Ben's Knee Ability book enough. Yes, I know these exercises are nothing new, but the way Ben has put together a system of progression to restore pain free range of motion and knee ability is awesome.

Always learning...

Carrot Cake - A Surprisingly Awesome Smoothie Recipe!

I was pretty shocked at how well this turned out!

Blend the following and enjoy!

•1.5 cups unsweetened oat milk

•2 cups shredded organic carrots

•1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I actually used Ghost Vegan Banana Pancake Batter and it was awesome!)

•1 frozen banana

•2 tbsp ground flax meal

•1 tsp cinnamon 

•1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

•handful of ice cubes

Stay healthy!