If your brain does not work optimally, you do not work optimally. It is plain and simple. All of our brains need a variety of things in order to function properly, like fuel and oxygen. The next big one ... Continue Reading
The Power of Intention
How many of you are the best lifter you can be? How many of you take a level of concentration into your training that is unshakable? How many of you walk onto the training floor with such laser-like focus ... Continue Reading
CrossFit Legal Gets a DNF
There were reports around September 23, 2016 of CrossFit losing a personal injury case in Missouri. The reports, which look very similar, have been pulled down but one still resides in the Interned ... Continue Reading
Facing the Second Half of Your Fitness Life
“The professional does not permit himself to become hidebound with one incarnation, however comfortable or successful. Like a transmigrating soul, he shucks his outworn body and dons a new one. He ... Continue Reading
American Children Are Among the World’s Least Fit
An international research team co-led from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and the University of North Dakota studied the aerobic fitness levels of children and youth across fifty ... Continue Reading
Make the Switch to Better Habits and Mindset
Whether you are an athlete seeking peak performance or an adult attempting to reconnect with the health of your youth, the mind matters. Michael Gervais, sports psychologist for the Seattle Seahawks and ... Continue Reading
The Psychology of Skill Development
If you train for any length of time, chances are high that at some point, you will find yourself stuck. You might try increasing weight, increasing reps, working harder, and resting more. As you try ... Continue Reading
Triathletes: Prepare to Crush Your Bike Leg
Love it or hate, the bike leg is the biggest chunk of the triathlon. It’s an area where hard work can really pay off, or mistakes can really set you back. Simply put, it is worth doing well, and there are ... Continue Reading
The Art of Making Excuses
Distractions and excuses are everywhere. It’s as if people are playing Pokemon Go and walking around trying to catch them all. Every excuse seems logical to the person offering it, and may even be ... Continue Reading
What’s the Point? Check In With Your Goals
"Begin with the end in mind," says Stephen Covey. I don’t recall much else from Covey’s book, but that quote sticks out in my mind. His idea is to have a firm vision of your goal in mind, and the actions ... Continue Reading
Traditional vs. Undulating Periodization in Youth Athletes
Every coach worth mettle uses some form of periodization, which is a big word for planning variations in an athlete’s training over a given portion of time. Periodizing a training program effectively ... Continue Reading
Training Should Not Interfere With Your Health
If you stay in the iron game for long, you’re eventually going to get hurt. It’s unavoidable. Even if you’ve stayed healthy for years, one bad rep or even a slip or fall outside the gym can leave you with ... Continue Reading
Training for a Bikini Competition, the Healthy Way
In June of this year, I made a decision to compete in women’s bikini this fall. The date of my competition is fast approaching, October 1st. For those women who are interested in competing in bikini ... Continue Reading
Simplify Your Approach to Amplify Your Results
In an industry full of hype and conflicting information it can be difficult to figure out who and what to believe. Social media has resulted in the abundant emergence of self-proclaimed ‘gurus’, ‘experts’, ... Continue Reading
Can You Train Mental Toughness?
After years of training and coaching mental toughness, I still sometimes find myself addressing this most basic question. It often comes in the form of a declaration. Someone, sure of their assumptions, ... Continue Reading
Less Brains, More Heart
As humans, we are terrible at reasoning. We feel first and rationalize later. We selectively pick the evidence we want to hear and stick to it protectively. We are excellent at thoroughly dissecting other ... Continue Reading
Why Non-Contact ACL Injuries Should Never Happen
I am by no means an expert in sports medicine, orthopedics, or physical therapy. What I am is a walking, talking encyclopedia of experience. And I am here to say that non-contact ACL injuries should never ... Continue Reading
The Middle School Block Zero Strength Program
Around the country, schools are investing more into their strength and conditioning programs. Any college football coach will tell you their first hire is the strength coach. This has trickled down to the ... Continue Reading
The 40 Days of Movement Challenge
For the next forty days, I want you to do the exact same training program every day. Why? Beyond simplifying your life, you will learn how to start and finish something. You will learn that consistency has ... Continue Reading
Stop Being So Fragile: Push Harder and Overreach
I grew up, strength-wise, when, “no pain, no gain” could be said without irony or ridicule. I came of age believing that more really was better, and that progress started where my comfort zone ended. Along ... Continue Reading
The Only Variable That Matters
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s something you need to know. Your program doesn’t matter. Neither does your coach, or your diet. In fact, not a single article or piece of advice or video on ... Continue Reading
Change Your Story to Change Your Performance
Stories have shaped human communication as long as we’ve existed. Look around. Our money, our religion, our businesses are all stories. And your story can shape your physiology, too. If it sounds like ... Continue Reading
A Lesson Plan for the Youth Athlete
Years ago, Dan John wrote a very good article on accumulation and intensification. He defines accumulation as, “actively seeking and learning new sports, lifts, moves, ideas, and games.” Intensification, ... Continue Reading
How to Return Safely to Training Postpartum
As a mum, you’ve experienced physiological changes that are unique to females and which are unable to be replicated in any other situation. Your body has undertaken a transformation, which commenced the ... Continue Reading
