Every now and then, I receive some simple strength and conditioning, nutrition or competition questions. Earlier this week, I received a question no one has asked me before. The question was about ... Continue Reading
Chakras Demystified: Swadhisthana – The 2nd Chakra
Often, people writing about the second chakra, swadhisthana, discuss its correlation with creativity and judgment. This concept relates to physical body parts as well. In my personal experience, the second ... Continue Reading
STFU and Get to Work: Why You Didn’t Make the CrossFit Games
I never pass up a good Rocky reference. The film: Rocky III. The scene: Rocky has agreed to fight Clubber Lang, played masterfully by a young Mr. T. Rocky, knee deep in his own celebrity, is more concerned ... Continue Reading
The Reality of Combat and Special Forces Training
We all know “that guy.” We’ve all got that one friend. The friend who always seems to have a better story than everyone, yet no one has ever seen him do anything. And nowhere is this more obvious than when ... Continue Reading
Cheryl Brost: On Becoming a Professional Athlete
Cheryl Brost is a three-time CrossFit Games competitor, a former two-time collegiate soccer national champion, official spokesperson for LivOnLabs, a mother of two, and she’s stronger than most women half ... Continue Reading
What Is Vaginismus? A Guide for the Female Athlete
The conversation of painful sexual intercourse is never a subject we want to discuss. Painful intercourse is medically termed dyspareunia, and there is a form of it that many women may not have heard of - ... Continue Reading
Un-Clawing Your Paw and Other Impediments to Grip Strength
Grip strength is an issue that can plague many an athlete, and Breaking Muscle has covered how to regain strength in your grip when the issue is straight-up weakness (with articles by many of the smart and ... Continue Reading
Powerlifting Versus Olympic Squats: Which Is Better?
Generally speaking there are two ways to squat: powerlifting or Olympic style. Even though they are both a squat and legitimate techniques in their own right, there is a bit of a difference when ... Continue Reading
A New Canadian Record (Athlete Journal Entry 28)
After this week's training and a successful meet, I'm feeling very optimistic on being able to set the world record in Toronto in June. Monday Today was my snatch workout. I only did full squat ... Continue Reading
Why All BJJ Athletes Need to Strength Train
When two grapplers step onto the mat with equal skill who is going to win? This question is asked frequently in the Brazilian jiu jitsu community. Many athletes feel technique is the only thing that ... Continue Reading
How to Prevent CrossFit Injuries: A Guide for Coaches and Athletes
If you’ve ever experienced an injury, you know it can be emotionally devastating. You think the world is ending and you feel claustrophobic in a body that no longer performs in a way you’ve come to expect. ... Continue Reading
The Unstoppable Passion of CrossFitters and Triathletes
Everyone who reads Breaking Muscle is serious about their fitness. There's no question about that. But both CrossFitters and triathletes are special breeds. There's an intensity among even amateur athletes ... Continue Reading
How to Choose the Right Martial Arts Gym
Finding the martial arts gym that is right for you is never an easy task, and it can be a daunting one. This article will arm you with the tools for making sure the place you choose suits your training ... Continue Reading
When in Doubt, Train (Athlete Journal 33)
This week was dead week at school, but it seemed like I was doing more catch-up work than studying for finals. I found some time to study, but it was still difficult while catching up on lab work and ... Continue Reading
Put Yourself in a Position to Win (Athlete Journal 90)
Coming off of last week’s 515lb miss on block pulls, I needed to carefully weigh my decision-making about my deadlifts this week. Given that I’m only a month away from competition, this would be my last ... Continue Reading
5 Lessons I’ve Learned About Triathlon Since I Began Coaching
I began triathlon in 2006, after a friend convinced me to train with him. I was a rescue swimmer stationed in Bahrain, had nothing better to do, and enjoyed a challenge. In 2009, I starting coaching the ... Continue Reading
How to Improve Your Sex Life Through Exercise
If toning, losing body fat, keeping fit, and maintaining good self-esteem are not reasons enough to regularly exercise, then add your sex life to the list of motivators! Here are a few areas where exercise ... Continue Reading
To the Class of 2014: Set Fear Aside and Follow Your Dreams
It's graduation time again. Here in Japan, schools have just finished the graduation season, while in the United States graduation is still a month or so off. And while I may not be as famous, or nearly as ... Continue Reading
Overcoming Insomnia: 8-Week Meditation Challenge #3
This meditation is best done at bedtime for obvious reasons. It is a tool for those who feel their energy is too high at night or their thoughts are too scattered. The insomnia meditation combines with a ... Continue Reading
The Pan-American Youth Weightlifting Championships and the Wonder of Youth Itself
In weightlifting, "youth" comprises any lifter up to December 31 of the year he or she turns seventeen. This is the youngest age for which competition is held. About a year ago I wrote in this space about ... Continue Reading
It’s Not CrossFit’s Fault, It’s the Reinforcement System, Part II
In the first article of this series, we discussed how reinforcement plays a role in an athlete’s motivation. Specifically, reward systems using 1) the number of reps or 2) completing a long workout for ... Continue Reading
Block Periodization Versus Linear Periodization: Which Is Better?
Periodization, the planned distribution of work during exercise, has been around for decades, but few gym-goers actually use it. In a recent Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research study, two kinds ... Continue Reading
Squats, Takedowns, and Term Papers (Athlete Journal 19)
I can add one more good training week to the 2014 calendar. Everything got started off with a great drilling session on Sunday. I had one of my better training partners come in from out of town, so we also ... Continue Reading
How to Improve Your Golf Game and End Lower Back Pain
Mention of “the core” has most athletes think of the stomach muscles or abs. What is typically overlooked is the back. If you’re excluding lower back muscles in the gym, you are putting yourself at a ... Continue Reading
