I’ve had a few questions about how I’m periodizing my squats, so I thought I’d start this journal entry with a quick explanation of that for everyone. Here's how I'm managing my squat training. I’ve ... Continue Reading
The Importance of Cooling Down After a Race or Workout
I enjoy watching the finish of a good race. But I see many people make that final push for the finish - then cruise to a stop to get their breath, go over to the car park for a chat, or sit and wait for ... Continue Reading
Coordination Training for Future Champions
Almost a half-century ago, a famous Finnish coach and athletic authority Lauri Pihkala said, "Boys don't be in a hurry to join the men." His warning is still applicable today and should be ... Continue Reading
Weekly Work-In: Week 7 – Following Your Bliss
The oft-quoted philosophy of American writer Joseph Campbell reads, "If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.” In fact, all of Campbell's work can be ... Continue Reading
Are Growing Pains a Normal Part of Childhood?
Controversy abounds when mentioning childhood and adolescent growing pains. Even medical experts seem divided when discussing them. The wide variety of thoughts concerning the cause of growing pains range ... Continue Reading
5 Things to Ask Yourself Before Hiring a Coach, Personal Trainer, or Programmer
Before you embark on a training regimen, there are five important questions to ask yourself first. These are things you must consider before joining a gym, starting a personal training regimen, hiring a ... Continue Reading
Why Winning and Losing Matters and the Dodo Is Extinct
The Dodo suddenly called out “The race is over!” and they all crowded round it, panting, and asking, “But who has won?” This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, and ... Continue Reading
PAP for Improved Sprint Performance: No Barbell Required
Athletes use post-activation potentiation (PAP) to enhance performance by performing a brief, intense exercise just before the activity they want to improve. PAP has been a popular topic in the scientific ... Continue Reading
Taking Home Gold (Athlete Journal Entry 14)
I just got home this morning at 6:00am, after driving eight hours home from the Boston Open. For the first time in 2014, I can honestly say that I had a successful competition. I’ll just cut to the chase ... Continue Reading
Chakras Demystified: Vishuddha – The 5th Chakra
Whether we’re choking on words or choking on breath, our throat gives us immediate feedback as to our emotional state. More often than not, we harness our emotions, restrain our will, and choke back ... Continue Reading
The Top 10 BJJ Rashguards for Women
Training BJJ without the gi can be pretty disgusting, especially when you’re rolling in a club with no air conditioning in the middle of summer. My club, Titans Fitness Academy, used to be located in a ... Continue Reading
Athletes Have More Mental Toughness – In and Out of the Gym
Mental toughness has been described as one of the most important characteristics of success in athletic endeavors. However, defining mental toughness is a bit more difficult. One of the first definitions ... Continue Reading
The Signature Heard ‘Round the World: CrossFit vs. the NPFL
I am going to go out on a limb here. I believe that the National Pro Fitness League will be a remarkable success. Call it a hunch, call it intuition, but I am willing to state with hubristic abandon that ... Continue Reading
Strength Training Does Not Increase Critical Power
Despite endurance sports being steeped in a tradition that is opposed to strength training, time and time again strength training has proven to be effective for endurance athletes. In a recent study ... Continue Reading
Telling the Athlete’s Story – Jorge Huerta Photography (Featured Photographer)
As a child growing up in Mexico, Jorge Huerta rarely got to watch American movies. When he did, he was drawn to the powerful stories of directors like Spielberg and Coppola. Later in life, Jorge came to ... Continue Reading
The Science and Psychology of Motivation for Athletes
What is motivation? What motivates us, me, and you? And I don’t just mean the basic definitions, but the science of how motivation works and the psychology behind motivation. In this article, we will go ... Continue Reading
The Dynamic Duo of Shoulder Impingement
Welcome back, fellow body-hackers. In my last article, we took a look at some common problem areas associated with shoulder pain and devised a few different ways to approach them. This time around I’m ... Continue Reading
HIIT Helps Maintain VO2 Max, But Not Soccer Skills
Many people tout the benefits of high intensity interval training (HIIT). According to a recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, it might work well enough to only need ... Continue Reading
Expanding Your Athletic Horizons (Athlete Journal 16)
“A mind that has been stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” - Unknown What do you do when the thing you thought you loved is actually making you miserable? ... Continue Reading
The Max Effort Black Box Program Adapted for Weightlifters
Weightlifting is my sport of choice, but I enjoy the fitness return from incorporating just the right amount of CrossFit mixed mode sessions. Several years ago, prior to a National Masters Weightlifting ... Continue Reading
The 4 Paradoxes of Boxing (and Fighting)
“One of the paradoxes of boxing is that the viewer inhabits a consciousness so very different from that of the boxer as to suggest a counter-world.” - Joyce Carol Oates Having studied boxing and the ... Continue Reading
Things Are Changing in the BJJ Competition World
If you are involved in the Brazilian jiu jitsu community, then you may have heard talk from frustrated competitors opposed to the use of stalling guards such as the 50/50 guard. Within the past two months ... Continue Reading
3 Things I Learned While Sitting Out the CrossFit Games Open
The excitement of the CrossFit Open has passed and Thursday afternoons are once again just another run-of-the mill day. As the clock struck 5:00pm PST on March 31, CrossFitters around the world breathed a ... Continue Reading
7 Exercises to Optimize Shoulder Health With Kettlebells
With a background as a former orthopedic physical therapist, I’ve treated many shoulder injuries throughout my career. I’ve seen almost every shoulder pathology and dysfunction you could think of from ... Continue Reading
