But your body can get accustomed to the same exercises day in and day out. That is why it is good to find different exercise routines to incorporate into your interval training program. So when I read Jordan Rubin’s “Live Beyond Organic“, and read his review about “Battling Ropes” (p. 147), I was intrigued.

So I called up John Brookfield to ask him where I can find someone in South Florida that could teach me more about “Battling Ropes”. John recommended I contact Julio Anta in Doral Florida at “Anta’s Fitness & Self Defense“.

Julio gave me an excellent demonstration of Battling Ropes and more. I recommend anyone serious about physical fitness and conditioning try battling ropes. You will quickly see the benefits of including John Brookfield’s ropes in your training program.

I can go on about the ropes, but it will make a lot more sense if you just watch the video.

The problem is that some municipalities may be so uneducated that they are willing to gamble on the outcome in attempt to reduce the pesty mosquito population. In fact, the Florida Keys may be the first U.S. test site.

I don’t like saying bad things about anyone or even a company. But I wouldn’t want anyone to be treated like we were, so I am using the power of the internet to help protect people that might otherwise hire R&L Carriers.

R&L Carriers Damaged Our Custom Crate

We recieved our custom built pallet crate returned on a pallet. They obviously smashed into it with a forklift. They shipped it to Dallas without damaging it. We used it at a trade show there. But after the show, the return shipment apparently didn’t go so well.

R&L Carriers Damage This Crate

R&L Carriers Damaged This Crate.

R&L will not cover the claim apparently because the pictures are not date stamped.

We have been working with a Claims Analyst from Echo Global Logistics, whom we do not fault in this. They are essentially middle men that help us with our shipping needs. They provided us with the following information:

This claim on BOL #14357658 was declined because the delivery receipt was signed free and clear, indicating no damage at the time the freight was tendered to the consignee.

The processing of freight claims for goods of interstate commerce is guided by federal law and controlled by federal statutes and decisions. In determining liability for damage of interstate shipments, we look to the Carmack Amendment of the Interstate Commerce Act. This legislation codifies the common law rule that a carrier is not an absolute insurer of goods transported; and, as such, is only liable for loss or damage to the goods where it can be shown the proximate cause was due to negligent handling by the carrier while the goods were in transit.

If you can produce additional, compelling evidence which demonstrates carrier liability, then I will promptly file an appeal on your behalf.

email addresses blurred for privacy

Do you need more compelling information? Here is the email sent the day the shipment was recieved – November 17th, 2011. The damage shown in the pictures is clearly discussed. Can you believe that we actually paid to insure this and they still don’t acknowledge our claim?

2/1/2012 I speak with R&L Carriers. They are polite and looking into this further. I was informed, however, that I could not have purchased insurance from R&L Carriers for this freight. We will investigate from whom we purchased insurance or if I am mistaken about this. We realize there may be another party responsible for the insurance pertaining to this. We arranged for this shipment through Echo Global.

Pro # I077354127

2/13/2012
I decided to wrap this up with a report on ripoffreport.com. I wrote:
R+L Carriers damaged our shipping crate and denies responsibility. I left my custom made shipping crate on the loading dock in Dallas at a hotel that did not have a fork lift – only a pallet jack. Our custom crate was returned to us with obvious fork lift damage. My office manager didn’t read the agreement and signed for it upon delivery – even though our custom pallet crate was on a pallet provided by R+L carriers. This didn’t make sense because the crate was a pallet. But they did this because after they busted ours, it was no longer a pallet crate.

I posted about my experience with R+L Carriers on my blog and included pictures that explain the damage. I also included pictures of emails that clearly document the timing of our response regarding the damage. I then notified them about the post to make sure they had my full story including the emails that show my response time since we had a third party handling this for us… just in case sufficient documentation was not provided on our behalf. After all, I wouldn’t want to give RL Carriers a bad name if they didn’t deserve it. But despite the documentation, they still have not responded to my claim.

It has been almost three months since this shipping company damaged my custom shipping crate. I spoke with R+L Carriers company representatives directly and sent enough email. They clearly explained to me that since my office manager signed for the crate, I can not file a claim. So the lesson is, don’t sign for anything from R+L Carriers until you are certain there is no damage.

I will update my post on my blog if anything significant regarding my claim ever happens.

The video will show you how to use your back office to generate links. I demonstrate adding the links to my sidebar in WordPress. But you can drop these codes in any website that you have access to the html.

If you want to learn how to create your own WordPress blog, sign up for the Free WordPress Tutorials at http://www.seowebmeeting.com.

The job of the bicep is more than flexing at the elbow. The biceps muscle also supinates the forearm and hand.

As you see in the video, use proper form. Start out light and warm up the muscles so you don’t get injured with the heavier weights.

My favorite exercise is jumping on a mini trampoline – yes a rebounder. Mostly because it is fun! Secondly because it is a great form of exercise that increases the metabolism to help you burn fat while also stimulating the lymphatic system. Rebounding is reported to increase lymph flow by 15 to 30 times.

Rebounding helps stimulate the immune system and so much more! NASA did a study – and found that rebounding stimulated the heart and metabolism better than running. Now as astronauts use rebounding as part of their training to prepare for space.

As a massage therapist, I know people will pay top dollar to get a specific modality called Lymphatic Drainage. When my clients ask me for that treatment – I tell them they can pay me to do it or they can purchase a rebounder and have the the luxury of doing it themselves and receive all the other benefits that come along with rebounding.

Have you ever noticed how children will jump on couches – beds – anything that will give them a spring? Why do they do this? Well it’s fun – but it also feels good and makes them happy.

The mini-trampoline creates gravitational pulls on the body ranging from zero at the top of each bounce (the fun feeling) to 2 – 3 times the force of gravity at the bottom, depending on how high the person is rebounding; that’s where the muscle work comes to play.

Running can put weight bearing stress on muscles where as rebounding affects every joint and cell in the body equally; not just one muscle group but every muscle in the body, even the face. People that are heavier will find rebounding to be a much easier exercise when they start compared to traditional exercises.

After giving birth to our 4 child – I needed to find an exercise I could do at home with the kids around, at any time! I wanted to tone the belly sag and also the internal “Kegel”muscles that get stretched and damaged from having kids. I had heard about rebounding – but I thought it was a big craze in the 70′s. I pictured Richard Simmons jumping and ladies in the background with big scrunchie socks and spandex.

But I researched on the internet and found a rebounder of a reasonable price that I would recommend to people just getting started and not wanting to invest too much money. The Cellerciser is a great beginning rebounder for about $350. I used mine for about 2 years straight. It gives an equal bounce and was “kind on the spine” as I like to say. I would not recommend going to a cheap outlet store and buying the cheap version. You will spend more money on a Chiropractor trying to fix your spine.

In my research I found the Bellicon Rebounder, but didn’t want to spend $800+ for a trampoline when I didn’t know if I was going to like it enough to continue to use it. But after 2 years, I realized I loved this exercise and knew that I had a long enough track record that I could ask my husband to invest the money.

Boy am I glad I upgraded! The first time I bounced on my Bellicon rebounder – it was like going from driving an old mini-van – to a luxury sedan. The smoothness of the bounce – but also the difference in the depth and height of the bounce made all the difference in the lymphatic and gravitational pull. The work out was much more intense- yet even easier on the body.

As Michael will demonstrate – when you first start rebounding it is recommended to do a simple bounce – never letting your feet leave the mat – Focus on your body posture, tilting the pelvis, and feet pronation. Do this simple bounce for 2 minutes 3 times a day for a week to begin. This will train the body and supporting muscle structure so that you will be ready for more intense work in the future. This won’t be in vain – that simple exercise will do more to help rid the body of toxins than a $90 Lymphatic Drainage Massage.

You will increase your oxygen intake and feel better after just 2 minutes. When you feel that your body is ready for more – the sky is the limit in variety! There are videos on YouTube from Bellicon and others that have great workouts of all kinds. I like to crank up the music – have some fun and make the kids laugh at their crazy Momma.

One more benefit – if you have children – you can’t keep them off the rebounder – they just love it! We home school our children and I do memory drills while the kids bounce and catch balls- it is a great way to help them learn.

Swimming is one of those exercises that allows almost everyone all ages from cradle to grave to enjoy. These days, it is not unusual for kids to even be born in a pool and come out swimming while still tethered by a cord of life support. And on the other side of the spectrum, the elderly are assisted sometimes even mechanically into a pool. Once they are in, bouyancy takes over and the water offers resistance to movement for exercise.

For those that do not have their own pools, municipalities usually have resident swimming often for as little as a dollar per person.

And when it comes to the intensity of training, well, that is up to the individual. Exercise can be as minimal as attempting to tread water even while assisted by flotation devices On the other side of the spectrum is sprinting at maximum intensity while wearing a drag suit and hand paddles.

Although swimming is one of the safest sports someone can participate in, no one regardless of fitness ability should swim alone or unsupervised.

A good high intensity training program in the pool will usually include a short 7 to 10 minute warm-up and at least eight 30 to 45 second sprints with about a minute rest in between each sprint. When using freestyle, having a strong emphasis on the kick is a sure way to use the larger muscles and achieve an oxygen deficit quickly. This is the intention of high intensity training.

Do not make changes to your exercise program without first being cleared by a medical doctor.

Resting one day each week is also a biblical principle. And the benefits of resting are well documented by science. So today…

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work,…

The Holy Bible: King James Version. 2009 (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version.) (Ex 20:8–10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Of course, the benefit of such training is the significant demand it places on the body; which in turn will cause the body to secrete greater amounts of the strengthening growth hormones.

Well, recently, I was reading Jordan Rubin’s new book “Live Beyond Organic“. On pages 154-155, Jordan introduced me to kettlebells – specialized weights that quite effectively help you train the larger muscle groups.

In fact, I have found that for me to group kettlebells with weights may be a little offensive to experts of the industry. Kettlebells are really in a class of their own. Training with kettlebells is much more than a form of weight lifting and more than a competitive sport. For many, it is an art and even a way of life.

There are many kettlebell exercises that use repetitive endurance patterns starting with the swing. That is, swinging the kettlebell between the legs up to about shoulder height and back through the legs for several repetitions. This trains your quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals, mucsles of the back, the core, and more.

Another exercise, the “clean” involves the swing continuing up to shoulder with a catch between the arm and forearm in a pre-press position. It uses similar muscles as the swing on adds to it a stronger emphasis on the upper body muscles including the forearms, arms, and shoulders.

From there, we move on to the press. This carries the exercise to the next logical step of pressing the kettlebell handle above the head. Like the former exerises, there is a strong training of the core and an emphasis on the muscles of the torso, shoulders, and triceps.

Once these patterns are mastered, the next logical exercise is the pushpress. Like the press, the kettlebell goes up to the top. Only the push press brings the explosive pressing up coming largely from the legs. More advanced techniques include the jerk, the longcycle press, the longcycle pushpress, the longcycle jerk, half snatch, snatch, and more; each exercise building on the previous.

One of the leading authority on kettlebells in the United States is the World Kettlebell Club. You can see some excellent kettlebell videos on the World Kettlebell YouTube Channel.

I have known many people that say they can’t run because of their knee problems. But I don’t know of any that developed significant knee problems because of their running.

When I ask them how they hurt their knees, I have heard of almost everything you can think of including water ski jumping, snow ski wrecks, parachuting, car wrecks, motorcycle wrecks, football injuries, and even a bull riding fall. But I have never heard of anyone injuring their knees from just years of running or even competing in track and field. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen. But as a physician, I personally have never seen it.

Of course overuse pain syndromes are real among runners. But that is usually due to someone increasing their distance faster than their body could adapt to the change. This type of knee problem is usually helped by ice and rest. (never put ice or an ice pack directly on the knee but rather use towel separation. Never ice a knee longer than 15 minutes at a time.

If you over-trained and suffer from “Runner’s Knee”, you will probably recover faster if you stretch appropriately; especially your quadriceps and hamstrings. an “anti-inflammatory” diet is also certainly beneficial.

I am not really a fan of mundane distance running anyway. Distance running can be challenging and beneficial to some extent. And at slow speeds, distance running can be great for burning fat. But if you want to really drive the metabolism and increase your growth hormones to professional athlete levels, you will probably want to include some sprint work on your running days.

Running sprints involves near maximum exertion usually to the point of a significant oxygen deficit. That means that at some point you will have to slow down so your body can catch up and meet its’ oxygen demand. It will usually only take 20 to 30 seconds of sprinting to work up a significant oxygen deficit. This is the type of training that has been shown to effectively increase hormone levels to those of younger people and athletes.

Before making changes to your exercise program, be sure to consult with a physician to discuss the changes you will be making and make sure those changes are right for you.