Balancing Strength with Mobility

At a health conference, two years ago, I met a giant, 6'5" basketball player - a beast of man - who swore that his entire fitness routine was comprised of yoga and basketball.

I scoffed at this, swearing that the guy must be sneaking away to the gym to hoist a barbell or do explosive plyometrics... ...but then, just a few months later, I met another guy (a very ripped and athletic guy) at a different health conference, and this guy - named Dean Pohlman - completely destroyed me in an obstacle course competition, then informed me afterwards that his training primarily consisted of... ...you guessed it: yoga. So as you can imagine, I was somewhat intrigued with how one could use yoga to do things like maintain a very aesthetic body and build athleticism, and I had Dean on a podcast episode called "How To Get Ripped With Yoga".

That episode was so popular and helped so many people get fit with Dean's special flavor of yoga, that I decided to get Dean back on today's episode to talk yoga, mobility, athleticism, and much more! Dean is the founder of Man Flow Yoga, a fitness-centric style of yoga dedicating to helping anybody who wants to get ripped with yoga to not just get ripped, but to also get massive increases in their flexibility, core strength, endurance, balance, and bodily awareness. It’s basically yoga for people that want the physical benefits without the lifestyle change of becoming a hippie. You hold the postures much longer, more emphasis is placed on technique (instead of the spiritual), and the workouts are more catered to the physical needs of guys (although his workouts are equally accessible to women). Dean was a former collegiate-lacrosse player when he discovered the potential that yoga had to help improve physical fitness for athletes. He rejected the traditional approach to yoga, however, and in 2013 created a brand of yoga that catered to the more physical fitness-inclined individual. He is the author of the #1 bestselling Yoga Basics for Men eBook, and he has been featured in the Huffington Post, Fox 13 Tampa News, Austin KXAN News, Ben Greenfield Fitness (of course!), and many more top-ranked podcasts.

During our discussion, you'll discover: -The five things Dean does every morning to create a perfect day... -The one breakfast Dean has every morning, 365 days a year... -What happens when you hold a pose in yoga for 60-90 seconds instead of the standard 10-30 seconds... -Why yoga will create a muscular imbalance in your back and shoulders, and what you can do about it... -How to develop power and brute strength with yoga... -Why Dean doesn't get into the spiritual side of yoga much, and my disagreement with Dean on this... -Why yoga doesn't increase your mobility, and what you can do about it... -Dean's top tool he uses to quickly remove muscle knots... -How Dean uses his elbow and other body parts to massage himself prior to yoga... -My crazy home massage routine that includes infrared, wholetones music, CBD, ayurvedic oils and more... -Why you should push the "reboot" button on your body each year (and how to do it)... -And much more!

Resources from this episode: -How To Get Ripped With Yoga podcast with Dean. -Dean's ManFlowYoga program -Dean's Mobility Project (use code “greenfield25” for 25% discount) -Miracle Morning -CILTEP -Ben's new "Foundation" based morning routine -Brain Octane -Ben's Pau d' Arco bark tea article -Venom Suspension Straps for yoga -Neuromass book -The Kundalini yoga routine that Ben does twice per week -The KnotOut muscle adhesion tools -Ben's metabolic mobility routine video -The BioMat -NatureCBD -Wholetones music

Do you have questions, comments or feedback for Dean or me? Leave your thoughts at BenGreenfieldFitness.com and one of us will reply! 

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