"I want to lose weight." That’s probably the most common reason people hire me as a fitness coach. Many of them—arguably most of them—have tried every short-term diet in the book: The Whole30, ... Continue Reading
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How to Put Your Body to Use for a Good Cause
What if living life made you healthy? Just imagine a world where everyday life pulled you and your closest friends towards frequent physical activity. You’d run, jump, swim, climb, push, and pull without ... Continue Reading
The Future of Video Replay for Weightlifting
Over two consecutive weekends in May I was able to officiate at both the American and Canadian national weightlifting championships. Now that I have returned home and the dust has settled it is time to go ... Continue Reading
Preserve the Habit at All Costs: Why You Should Work Out Every Day
“We are mere bundles of habits.” - William James “We are mere bundles of habits.” - William James My two-year-old son, Ace, is a pattern machine. When he finishes dinner, he says, “bath.” When we ... Continue Reading
The Gut Check: Mental Strength Through Physical Training
Humanity delights in the idea of a challenge. We are fascinated by iconoclasts like Wim Hof who push the limits of what our bodies are capable. Something deep within us yearns to test our boundaries—to ... Continue Reading
28 Day Anti-Fragile Human Challenge
Humans are anti-fragile by nature. The concept of anti-fragility is not that we deflect attacks like a Gore-tex repels water, but that we, in fact, need resistance to grow stronger. Humanity is not totally ... Continue Reading
3 Barbell Complexes for Fun and Profit
Whether you’re a weightlifter or a multi-modal CrossFit athlete, barbell complexes can be valuable for various reasons. Mike Tromello—a USA Weightlifting National Coach, who has coached many ... Continue Reading
Never Eat Sweets Alone
In Useful Shame: Countering Junk Food and Smartphone Addiction, I looked at how social norms, manners, and shame have successfully guided cultural behavior with far more fluidity, elegance, and success ... Continue Reading
Effort Determines Outcome
Have you been working out with the goal to get bigger? You have read the latest articles on what the best training program is to meet your goal and after six weeks have little to show for it. Does this ... Continue Reading
Auto-Regulation, HRV, and the Unplugged Approach
Every strength has its weakness. My best talent, if you could call it that, is that I follow-through. When I decide to do something—earn a certification, wake daily to a morning flow, take a cold shower ... Continue Reading
Eccentric Abdominal Training
Abs respond to heavier weights because of their muscle fiber makeup. In order to get deeply etched abs, they also need to undergo some hypertrophy training. The rules on this are clear and, like every ... Continue Reading
Eliminate Options: Driving Action With a Strong Default Mode
Why do you act in the ways that you act? Why did your habits come about? Are you in control of your choices? Why do you act in the ways that you act? Why did your habits come about? Are you in ... Continue Reading
Free Yourself Through Imposing Strict Limits
If you come into my weight room, you’ll see a board displaying the essential no’s: No Sitting No Yawning No Hands in Pockets No Being Last No Unauthorized Smartphone Use No ... Continue Reading
Distortion: How Poor Early Nutritional Experiences Set us up for Failure
Ace holds up the cupcake ceremoniously. He takes his first bite which, in his little two-year-old mouth, is mostly just blue frosting. His eyes light up and he starts dancing from side-to-side. The table ... Continue Reading
Bridge the Gap Between Strength and Hypertrophy
There still seems to be a lot of confusion these days between the worlds of strength training and hypertrophy training, and how the two are interconnected—similar yet completely different at the same ... Continue Reading
The One Exercise to Complete Your Hamstring Development
To build a balanced, strong, injury-proof physique you need to do some unilateral training. Unilateral training is when you train one limb at a time—examples could be the pistol or Bulgarian split ... Continue Reading
Anti-Diet Common Sense: The Banana is Not Making You Fat
Every year I watch the masses embrace their new diets and workout plans in January only to frustratingly witness their failure long before summer. If asked, I do my best to interject experience and point ... Continue Reading
Step Into the Arena Part II: You Need a Team
At age 9: “Okay, it’s time for y’all to come inside and clean-up for dinner.” At age 12: “I know y’all go to the park to play football after school, but I need you home by 5 to do homework and get ready ... Continue Reading
Step Into the Arena Part I: Shape Fitness to Meet Modern Needs
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” George ... Continue Reading
Why You Need a Woman on Your Staff
No, this is not some politically correct, pandering to the masses, and public give-in to the pressure of what big mouths in our society deem to be mandatory ways of thinking. In fact, their noise makes ... Continue Reading
Complacency or Tenacity: It’s as Simple as What You Praise
It is easy to get our kids doing push-ups with us and to comment, “Wow, I couldn’t do push-ups like that when I was your age. You are so strong!” Likewise, when our kids are playing at the park and we ... Continue Reading
The Awesome Things Helping Me Regenerate Knee Cartilage, Avoid Surgery and Snowboard a Whole Lot
I love mountain sports. They energize, inspire, and motivate me—highly so. But sadly, I’ve become a regular patient at the orthopedic clinic. A renowned surgeon told me I need surgery on my right knee. As ... Continue Reading
Choose the Challenge
You have two choices. Over the next year you can either: Option A Live in a barracks with 19 other same-sex peers. You will all be woken up every morning before 5 am for arduous physical training. ... Continue Reading
A Cautionary Tale of Modern Youth Development
Brad Johnson is your typical American teen. He grew up playing baseball, watching MTV, and taking two Adderall pills each day for his ADHD. Brad first showed signs of hyperactivity in kindergarten, ... Continue Reading
