Metzl - Dr. Jordan Metzls Workout Prescription

The Young Athlete

The Athletes Book of Home Remedies

The Exercise Cure

Dr. Jordan Metzls Running Strong

This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as a medical manual. The information given here is designed to help you make informed decisions about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor. If you suspect that you have a medical problem, we urge you to seek competent medical help.

The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper exercise training. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. The editors and publisher advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the exercises in this book, be sure that your equipment is well-maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and fitness. The exercise and dietary programs in this book are not intended as a substitute for any exercise routine or dietary regimen that may have been prescribed by your doctor. As with all exercise and dietary programs, you should get your doctors approval before beginning.

Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book, its author, or the publisher.

Copyright 2016 by Jordan D. Metzl, MD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

Page numbers refer to the print edition. Photo on bottom: Sara Cedar Miller/Central Park Conservancy; all other photos: Matt Rainey/Rodale Images
Exercise illustrations: Kagan McLeod
Medical illustrations: Amanda Williams
Book design by Christina Gaugler

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher

ISBN 9781623365868 paperback
ISBN 9781623365875 e-book

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Five years ago, I started a community-based fitness class called Ironstrength. What started out with 20 people in the basement of a gym has grown into a movement of many thousands of people who join our free, physician-led fitness classes every year. This book is dedicated to the amazing people who have worked out with me, sharing their sweat, smiles, and joy with our Ironstrength community. Together we have built a fitness family.

You have made me a better doctor and a better fitness instructor and have helped create a community that continues to nourish everyone who participates. Thanks to you, Ive been able to join the worlds of fitness and medicine together to promote health, wellness, and prevention. I dedicate this book to each of you, my friends and workout partners.

Weve Come a Long Way!

W hen I graduated from medical school more than 20 years ago, I hoped Id be able to help improve the lives of my patients by practicing medicine in an office or hospital, like many doctors do. That sounded gratifying to me, since I come from a family of doctors and knew since I was 5 years old that Id follow in the family business.

When the time came to choose a specialty, I picked sports medicine because I am an athlete myself and understand that movement is joyat its core, true joyand I wanted to keep people moving the way they were meant to. If you had asked me back then if that would be enough, I might have said yes (then again, maybe notI was fired up back then and still am!). But Ive learned through the years that as important as my work in my regular practice is, my role as doctor has evolved in many positive ways that I never anticipated when I first started my journey.

For a long time, I considered my athletic endeavorslike training for triathlonsand my medical career to be separate activities. You could make an appointment to see me at the office for your achy hip or knee, but if you wanted to see me any other time, youd have to flag me down while I was out running or cycling. Exercise was my private island. Thats pretty much how most people live their lives: I work during the day; I do my other thing on nights and weekends.

But then things began to change.

I published The Athletes Book of Home Remedies, which was designed to keep active people moving by offering information on diagnosing, treating, and preventing common sports injuries. It was successful and reached more people in 1 month than I could ever have seen in my entire career of office practice. Thats powerful.

Two years later, I published The Exercise Cure: A Doctors All-Natural, No-Pill Prescription for Better Health & Longer Life. As you can see from the title, the book was designed to help people prevent or improve a vast number of health problemsfrom annoying issues like fatigue all the way up to the most serious conditions, like heart disease and certain cancersusing exercise. This second book really started narrowing the gap between my worlds of exercise and medicine. The Exercise Cure was even more successful than The Athletes Book of Home Remedies and once again extended my reach to many thousands of people beyond the borders of New York City, where I work as a sports medicine physician at Hospital for Special Surgery, and even beyond the borders of the United States.

That led to a dream project of mine, a book with Runners World titled Dr. Jordan Metzls Running Strong, and my first workout DVD, called The Ironstrength Workout for Runners. These two projects collected all the helpful things Id learned not just as a doctor but also as a dedicated (and perhaps a little fanatical!) runner. At last, all the things I wanted to tell runnersabout health, injury, and preventionwere collected in one place. Ive also done a series of instructional videos for Runners World magazine (runnersworld.com), and Ive worked to get content across multiple platforms to reach an ever-broadening audience. The goal, as always, is to keep athletes moving through education and smarter training.

As I look back at my path, I see that my loves of exercise and medicine had always been mergingI just didnt fully realize it at the time. Over the years, Ive learned more and more about my field, how our bodies work, and how my own body responds to new and different forms of exercise. As far as endurance trainingall that running, biking, and swimmingI figured I had that down. When I discovered HIIT (high-intensity interval training), however, it was like a whole new world of health, fitness, and performance opened up. HIIT training made everything betternot just my race times but also how I felt day to day: stronger, healthier, more energetic (and thats saying something) and with fewer aches and pains, especially in my joints. Why did I feel so good? The muscle I built helped support my joints and connective tissue and also let me work longer and at a higher level.