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Good and bad soreness: How to know the difference
Posted on May 15, 2018
Soreness is somewhat of a vague term, but an important one to understand if you’re to get the most of out of your workouts and build resilient, sturdy joints.
Soreness isn’t necessarily indicative of an effective workout. It can be a byproduct of one. However, just because you are sore, doesn’t mean your workout actually did anything productive.
I could have anybody, regardless of fitness level, do jump squats for an hour and I guarantee they’d be sore the next day.
Did they build any muscle, strength, power, or flexibility? Did they burn enough calories to justify such a unnecessarily nonj...
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Do you need to be taking supplements?
Posted on May 08, 2018
Once upon a time, I worked at a gym that required its trainers to sell supplements. Not only would trainers get commission for selling those supplements, but they had a quota.
The way the gym justified this was by claiming it was physically impossible to get sufficient nutrients by food alone. Not difficult, impossible.
If this sounds nonsensical, that’s because it is.
There were plenty of other horribly flawed arguments given to justify peddling supplements -- there were many other trainers who were visibly uncomfortable about the idea of pushing expensive supplements onto people who didn’
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How to make the boring stuff exciting and get fit
Posted on Apr 19, 2018
You’ll get in really great shape if you make peace with boredom because the simplest, most “unsexy” methods of achieving anything are the most effective.
Don’t get me wrong. Making nutrition and exercise fun is important because it will help you show up. And showing up is priority number 1. If you don’t show up, nothing else matters.
However, getting good at something requires practicing the same thing repeatedly, which can seem tedious at first glance.
If you can embrace mindful, focused repetition you’ll advance more quickly than always doing random workouts for the sake of novelty, entert...
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What are the best exercises for you?
Posted on Apr 11, 2018
This post is about exercise dogma, namely the notion that certain exercises are absolutely required to make progress.
For example, some people seem to think everyone should back squat all the time -- that if you don’t back squat, the fitness gods will smite you with a protein shake flavored lightning bolt, zapping you of your gains.
Are back squats potentially the best exercise of all time?
Yes. Yes, they are.
Are they a good fit for every person at every point in their fitness journey?
No. No, they are not.
Not everyone can or should squat with a bar on their back. There’s a lot that can ...
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How to not feel absolutely awful when you wake up
Posted on Mar 14, 2018
Egggghhhh Egggghhhh Egggghhhh!
“Faaaaaaaaaaack! AAAGGggghhGGH! Whyyyyyyyy?!”
You fumble around with your phone, feebly trying to make the infernal noise stop, haphazardly tapping your fingers on the screen. Your eyes are still half glued shut. You’re still half asleep i.e., this might as well be climbing Mt. Everest.
“Huh? I only fell asleep like an hour ago”
Narrator: “You didn’t.”
Your limbs feel like they’re made of lead. You swear you’re physically tied down to your mattress. (What were you doing last night eh? WINK WINK!)
Alas, our economic system requires you get out of bed, otherwise y...
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How to get healthy regardless of your starting point
Posted on Mar 07, 2018
You have more healthy behaviors than you may realize.
I can already hear you saying, “I don’t do anything healthy. Ever.”.
To which I call BS.
Well, unless you spend every hour of every day in McDonald’s slamming shots of Fireball and watching Fox News. Even then though, I’m sure you drink some water (read: something healthy) at soooome point.
I’m certain there are actions you take towards your health, be it brushing your teeth or eating the occasional broccoli floret.
You may not feel healthy. Maybe you’ve never thought of yourself as one of those "healthy, fit people". One of those weirdo...
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How to stop sabotaging your fat loss, for good
Posted on Jan 26, 2018
What I’m writing to you about today is one the most important mindset switches you can make to stop sabotaging your results.
Imagine you’re on the treadmill. Every 10 minutes or so you check the “calories burned” section on the treadmill interface.
You watch the number steadily climb. Seeing how many calories you’ve burned is motivating. So you keep running to see that number continue increasing.
You finish your workout and see that number has risen to 700 calories. Awesome. You pack up your gym things and head home.
So far so good.
You make yourself dinner. Then, you plop down to watch som...
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How to construct an awesome home workout
Posted on Jan 11, 2018
Most people don’t like going to the gym. Fair enough, right?
Most gyms are pretty damn uncomfortable from a social standpoint (I mean, you have to deal with other people for chrissake. Eww. Gross.). Plus, sometimes going to the gym just isn’t feasible whether that’s because of price or accessibility.
And ya know what? You don’t actually need to go to the gym to get fit. Does it help to have more equipment? Sure. But is it necessary? Especially if you’re just starting out, the answer is a firm, “nope”.
Especially if your goal is fat loss, working out comes in a distant second to nutrition, s...
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How to be amazing at things you don't like
Posted on Jan 04, 2018
Do you ever say you’re just going to wash one thing then 3 hours later the house is spotless?
You know those times when the house is a mess and every day you tell yourself you’ll get your shit together tomorrow, or the weekend when you have time?
Sure enough though, the kitchen keeps getting messier week after week. Yet you keep telling yourself the same thing, “I’ll do a massive clean up when I have time”. But of course when you do have time you still don’t do it because there are other things you’d much rather be doing with your free time.
For example, literally anything other than doing d...
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The most important things you need to know for core strength
Posted on Dec 27, 2017
Most of the things people do in an attempt strengthen their core do more harm than good. Don’t get me wrong, your back isn’t going to explode like the Death Star from doing a few sets of crunches. It’s not doing your back any favors though. Plus, it might even make things worse.
Today I’m going to give you an alternative to popular, yet unproductive, core training methods. After reading this post you’ll know how to:
- Make your training more effective in general.
- Keep your back and hips happy and pain-free.
- Improve your posture.
- Make your back strong and durable.
- Win arguments on the internet....