267: Solving Joint Pain & Why Sports Aren’t Good for Kids With Hunter Fitness

Hunter Cook of Hunter Fitness became a close friend when I visited Finland this year with Four Sigmatic. Ever since, I have been implementing his systems and at this point I am totally sold on his approach to mobility training and overall physical health.

Today we’re covering all things joint health — how they function, as well as ways to protect and strengthen them when exercising or playing sports. We’ll also tackle the controversial topic of competitive sports for kids and practical ways to protect kids from injury in the line of play.

Hunter has a bachelor’s in Kinesiology with a focus on exercise science, and he now teaches the FRC Mobility Specialist Certification and his Kinstretch Instructor Certification. We’ll explain what both of those mean in detail, but basically he teaches all over the world and has a long list of clients from professional athletes and trainers, to celebrities, and to regular people just like me.

Episode Highlights With Hunter Fitness

• The difference between flexibility and mobility
• Why sports aren’t good for kids and how to undo the damage if they keep playing
• What we all need to know about our joints and how they work
• How and why joint pain happens and how to build stronger joints
• Foolproof ways to injury-proof the body through natural movements
• The best types of movements for kids and adults to maintain lifelong joint health
• How I (Katie) messed up my back and what you can learn from it
• What CARS are and why you need them
• And more!

Resources We Mention

• HunterFitness.com
• Four Sigmatic
• FunctionalAnatomySeminars.com

More From Wellness Mama

• 260: Why the 21st Century Is at War With Your Spine With Ty Carzoli
• 202: How Footwear Affects Posture, Alignment, & Movement With Gordon Hay From ALINE
• 221: Natural Movement, Sustainable Fitness, and Lifelong Health With Dr. Mark Cucuzzella
• 250: Sustainable Fitness, Cork, and Benefits of Rolling With Addie Conner
• 106: Why to Stop Doing Kegels & Squat Instead with Katy Bowman
• 182: Why You Need to Exercise Differently If You Have Autoimmune Disease With Autoimmune Strong
• 8 Fun Ways to Exercise As a Family
• Benefits of Inversion Therapy (& How to Do It at Home)
• Easy At Home Workouts for Moms
• Why a Kettlebell Is the Best Home Workout for Moms

Do you think kids should play sports? Will you change anything based on his advice? Please drop a comment below or leave a review on iTunes to let us know. We value knowing what you think and this helps other moms find the podcast as well.

Thank You to Today’s Sponsors

This episode is brought to you by Ritual Vitamins, which are specifically designed just for women. Ritual contains nine essential nutrients that most women don’t get enough of from just from food: vitamin B12 (as methylcobalamin), folate, vegan D3, vitamin K2, vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids, boron, chelated iron and a proprietary form of magnesium. Ritual supplies them in forms that are easily absorbed and utilized, and all the capsules are vegan, gluten-free, allergen free and non-GMO. They have both a prenatal and a regular women multivitamin both designed specifically for women and synergistic for women hormones. Did you know that 40% of women can’t properly use folic acid due to an MTHFR gene variation? Ritual contains a natural form of folate and synergistic nutrients so the entire multi is more effective. In pregnancy especially, folate is vital. According to OBGYN Dr. Jason Rothbart, “most women don’t find out they are pregnant until around 4-7 weeks pregnant, which is past the first 28 days. In the first 28 days, the organs are rapidly forming. The neural tube (which becomes the central nervous system and vertebral column) is almost completely formed and closed by the end of 28 days.” The essential nutrient Folate helps promote healthy development neural tube. This is why many doctors recommend taking a quality prenatal for several months before trying to get pregnant. Ritual makes it easy with both a prenatal and regular women multivitamin. Learn more about both at wellnessmama.com/go/ritual.

This podcast is sponsored by Thrive Market, a company I’ve known and loved since the very beginning. Their goal is to make real food affordable to everyone and they now help their half a million members, including me, get the organic foods we love delivered to our door for less! Think of an online combination of Costco and whole foods with tons of organic, allergy friendly, paleo, vegan, Keto and other options. The annual membership earns you free gifts and guaranteed savings, and sponsors a free membership for a low-income family. You’ll get 25-50% off top brands and I also always order the new Thrive Market brand products that provide an even bigger discount on their 500+ high quality products. Check it out and save 25% on your first order by going to thrivemarket.com/wm