The Ultimate Human Performance stretching system is a set of 24 specific poses, developed by Joe Hippensteel, that I have done daily for years to overcome chronic injuries and stay durable — and he is holding a three-day seminar in Orlando that I am attending and inviting you to join.
On this Physical Friday I announce a place I will be doing a physical thing anyone can do: stretching. Joe Hippensteel runs UHP in San Diego and works with Navy SEALs and athletes of every level. His program helped my knees, hips, and shoulders, and there are a few seats left at the Orlando seminar. I am not getting anything out of this — I just think you will benefit.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
It is a stretching system built by Joe Hippensteel, who runs Ultimate Human Performance in San Diego and works with Navy SEALs, professional and non-professional athletes, and everyday people who just want to feel better. He calls this stretching the fountain of youth, and I tend to agree. The program centers on 24 specific poses or positions, each with standards you work toward through a building phase and a maintenance phase. He teaches you exactly how to perform them so you can take the technique anywhere.
I have done Joe Hippensteel's stretching program every single day for a few years, and it helped me overcome chronic injuries — pain going down the stairs, and pain in my knees, hips, and shoulders from years of pulling the boat, running, and working out. Aside from all the weightlifting and training I do, adding this stretching routine is probably the most important thing I have done for my body in the last few years. It has been very beneficial for me, for my wife, and for a lot of the people I have shown it to.
It is a three-day seminar in Orlando, January 27 through 29, led by Joe Hippensteel, Mimi, and other Ultimate Human Performance team members. It lines up perfectly with my schedule — we wrap a Saltwater Experience film shoot at Hawks Cay Resort on January 26, so I am driving up to Orlando to attend. There are a few seats available. You can find this seminar or another one near you at ultimatehumanperformance.com/seminars.
You stretch for about three or four hours a day across three days, so you get an incredibly good stretch and feel noticeably different by the end. More importantly, you learn the technique itself, so you can take it home, on the road, anywhere, and confidently do the stretches on your own. That is the real value — it is not just a great session, it is the skill to keep maintaining your body long after the seminar so you can keep doing what you love for much longer.
Because the whole point of Physical Friday is prolonging your outdoor career. As we age we often finally gather the time and money to do the trips we always wanted — and then the body starts saying the knee hurts, the hip hurts, I cannot climb that mountain. It does not have to be that way. Stretching, good nutrition, and strength keep you durable and long-lasting so that when you do have the time and resources, your body can still do the hiking, hunting, fishing, and backpacking you have been waiting for.
Go to ultimatehumanperformance.com/seminars to see the Orlando seminar on January 27 through 29 or find an upcoming one near you. If you want background first, listen to the original podcast I did with Joe Hippensteel, titled Joe Hippensteel Ultimate Human Performance Navy SEAL Stretching Routines, and the Physical Friday episode where he showed four stretches — three lower body and one upper body — that we did as a summer challenge. I am not getting anything out of promoting this; I just think it is worth it.
Stretching is a physical thing anyone can do, and for me it has been the quiet difference-maker. Joe Hippensteel's system pulled me out of chronic injuries that years of pulling the boat, running, and training had piled up, and I have become a real advocate for it. When a seminar landed right after our Saltwater Experience shoot, I wanted to share it and invite you to come stretch and hang out. I get into what it has done for me in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here is how the UHP stretching approach works and how to get started. I share more in the episode.
I unpack each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
Between all the weightlifting and training I do, the stretching is the piece I would not give up. It is what let me stop hurting going down the stairs and quieted the knee, hip, and shoulder pain from decades of hard use. Joe Hippensteel calls it the fountain of youth, and after a few years of doing it daily I understand why. I explain how it fits around my other training in the episode, so press play in the player above.
This is the heart of Physical Friday. Plenty of people end up waiting until they finally have the time and money for the big trips, only to find the body will not cooperate. Stretching, the right nutrition, and strength work are how you stay durable enough to cash in those plans — flexible, mobile, and ready when the chance finally comes. I get into the bigger picture in the episode, so press play in the player above.
If you have ever waited for the time and money to do something physical, do not let your body be the thing that says no when you finally get there.
Check out ultimatehumanperformance.com/seminars to join me in Orlando January 27 through 29 or find a seminar near you. I would love to meet you and stretch with you. Press play in the player above.
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
stretching · mobility · Joe Hippensteel · Ultimate Human Performance · Orlando seminar · Navy SEALs · chronic injuries · Saltwater Experience · Hawks Cay Resort · durability · Physical Friday · Tom Rowland Podcast
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong enough to do the things they love — hunting, fishing, hiking, and more — for life.
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