I hear pregnant women make statements like this frequently: “I’ve kept up with [insert type of exercise here] through my whole pregnancy, but my [insert body part here] is killing me. Why is this ... Continue Reading
Are You a 7 Or a 2? How to Spot the Best Trainer for You
In Dan John’s latest book, Can You Go, he includes a very cool Venn diagram that depicts where potential clients are in a visual format. Most men, he argues, are in need of a hybrid of mobility work and ... Continue Reading
How to Make Your Best Progress By Lifting Every Day
As a culture, Americans are obsessed with hard work. It’s part of the American dream. You can be whatever you want and have whatever you want as long as you’re willing to work for it. We respect the ... Continue Reading
Julie Foucher’s Achilles Injury: Can Chatter Create Change?
Julie Foucher tore her Achilles tendon doing box jumps at the CrossFit Central Regionals. Now, before everyone cocks their weapons: this is not that article. This article is about the conversation. ... Continue Reading
Save Your Spine and Forget the GHD: Enter the Janda Sit Up
Many athletes are in pursuit of “ripped” abs and methodologies like CrossFit often emphasize movements like GHD sit ups and toes-to-bar. But these exercises emphasize hip flexor muscles and may put the low ... Continue Reading
Bro, Do You Even Read? Assessing Trainer Competence
So, you hire a personal trainer or seek advice to help you lose weight, get stronger, or obtain a specific performance goal. In doing this, you’re admitting one of two things. You have no clue of ... Continue Reading
CrossFit Athlete Stacie Tovar: Seeking Success After Disappointment
Stacie Tovar of CrossFit Omaha is an athlete who has worked hard in her sport of choice her whole life. Someone who knows what it means to compete and face potential disappointment or supreme success. This ... Continue Reading
Why Your SI Joint Is Such a Pain (And 4 Exercises to Fix It)
The sacroiliac joint can get really beaten up in some people, leading to pain and injury. We call this joint the SIJ for short, and it’s basically where your sacrum and pelvis come together. ... Continue Reading
6 Steps to Becoming a Better Athlete (and Person)
You are an athlete. And you spend more time on your sport than you admit to your friends and family. It’s more than a hobby. It’s a part of you. When you have a great session, it leaves you feeling ... Continue Reading
Injury-Free Running at 40: 2 Tricks and a 6-Week Plan
The fastest way to get better at something is to do it more. You need to chase down those 10,000 hours, right? But how do you go about acquiring serious running volume as a mature athlete when running can ... Continue Reading
6 Steps to Becoming a Better Lifter (and Human)
You are an athlete. And you spend more time on your sport than you admit to your friends and family. It’s more than a hobby. It’s a part of you. When you have a great session, it leaves you feeling on top ... Continue Reading
Why CrossFit Will Never Just Cool It With the American Swing
When CrossFit, Inc. posted a link to this article on their Facebook page, a minor firestorm erupted. Minor, meaning mostly people from the RKC community, who are generally annoyed by CrossFit’s ... Continue Reading
Fat Loss and Mass Maintenance: Smart Strength With Charles Staley
Note: Charles is here on a weekly basis to help you cut through the B.S. and get to the bottom of the biggest questions in health and training. Question #1: Weight Or Reps? READER: In terms of ... Continue Reading
Kettlebells for an Iron Core: A 3-Phase Training Plan
It is probably the first thing you feel when you lift kettlebells the first time. The humbling feeling of moving a weight that is often lighter than what you are used to, but the kettlebell seems to hit ... Continue Reading
Why Some CrossFit Athletes Dominate the Open and Fail Regionals
Every year, when the CrossFit Games Regionals come around, there are athletes watching on their computers at home or from the stands at the events who know they would be one of the top individual finishers ... Continue Reading
How to Practice Yoga While You’re Running
One day during an afternoon trail run, it suddenly hit me that I was not only running, but I was also practicing yoga - simultaneously. I know there’s a lot of information out there about yoga before and ... Continue Reading
Programming for CrossFit: Remember to Hinge
If your program contains many front squats, Olympic movements, and wall balls, you might want to add in low-bar back squats and hinge movements to stay balanced. The front squat and its variants emphasise ... Continue Reading
Old-Time Strongman for New Strength: The Jefferson Deadlift
I might like the Jefferson deadlift more than any other version of the deadlift. Yet this amazing exercise is seldom seen in most gyms. My goal with this article is simple. I just want you to try ... Continue Reading
4 More Great Inventions in Strength Training History
Last week I shared what I believe to be the four greatest inventions in strength training. But four is a pretty small number and there are a lot of useful and amazing devices in our fitness ... Continue Reading
Are You as Isolated as an Astronaut? Exercise Can Help
Although space flight is often perceived as exciting and glamorous, long space missions are actually isolating and dull. Astronauts are confined in close quarters with the same few people for months or ... Continue Reading
The Best Cross-Training Exercise for Serious Cyclists
Cycling is a great activity for recreation and sport. It doesn’t require much equipment and you can get a good cardiovascular workout, develop strength by going up hills, become more adept at balancing, ... Continue Reading
4 Things You Thought You Knew About Kinesiology Taping
Kinesiology tape is the generic, non-branded term for elastic tape made of tightly woven elasticated cotton and nylon fibres. It is worn on skin in an effort to reduce pain, aid injury recovery, and ... Continue Reading
The Physics of Lifting: Don’t Forget to Hinge
If your program contains many front squats, Olympic movements, and wall balls, you might want to add in low-bar back squats and hinge movements to stay balanced. The front squat and its variants emphasize ... Continue Reading
Combating Entitlement: You Have a Black Belt In Jiu Jitsu, Not Life
A few months ago I was waiting in line at my local public library. (Yep, I still go to the library. I love the library.) There was a fairly long line, maybe five or six people besides me, because the ... Continue Reading