[Photo Credit: Cara Kobernik]

#1 – The Anthropological Argument About Carb Consumption

By Cliff Harvey

Before anyone accuses me of being some crazy ‘Paleo guy,’ remember I started consulting in the nutrition field before Paleo was cool, back in the late 1990s. But as a rationalist and a scientist, it makes sense to look at remaining (or recently remaining) hunter-gatherer populations for some of the best evidence of not only how humans have eaten over the course of our progression as a species, but also how this affects health, and what we should be doing now.

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#2 – The Truth About Women’s Training

By Walter Dorey

When it comes to physical training, the biggest mistake trainers make is training women differently than men. And the biggest trap women fall into is thinking they have to train differently than men. If an untrained group of men and an untrained group of women do the same training routine, what happens?

Both groups get stronger.

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#3 – A Champion’s Mindset

By Noel Plaugher

A mindset towards a goal will often draw critics in the form of: “You need balance,” or “Don’t overdo it.” But you must ask yourself: Is it my balance or someone else’s? You need to do what is necessary, and you will know what that is. Just because someone else can’t imagine spending an afternoon in a sweaty gym and loving it doesn’t mean you should stop. If you are trying to accomplish something it usually means that you must be prepared to sacrifice and confront difficulty.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

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The Skill of Walking

Turbo Charged Kettlebells: High Pulls and Snatches

What Is Functional Training?

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 43 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo Credit: Vicky Good]

#1 – Hips Don’t Lie: 4 Drills to Unlock Your Stiff Hips

By Chandler Stevens

Your hips drive the vast majority of your movements, holding the key to everything from walking to squatting. If they lose range of motion, you’re bound to compensate somewhere else – cue low back and knee pain.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

#2 – What We Mortals Can Learn From Eddie Hall’s Deadlift

By CJ Gotcher

Eddie Hall, “The Beast,” just deadlifted a savage 500kg, shattering his own record of 465kg from March of this year. This is one of the most impressive strength feats in recent history, a new benchmark for strength athletes to strive for. It’s also a great opportunity to examine the lifting mechanics of a titanic deadlift to see what you can apply to your own training.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

#3 – Combine Sprints and Weight Training for Accelerated Gains

By Javier Garza

If you are a speed and strength junkie who is looking to squeeze every ounce of performance out of your body, some form of sprints should be a staple in your training program. If you have been weight training for years with steady progress but you feel like your training has been stagnant and your results could be better, adding sprints into your routine will help you see results faster.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

Did You See These?

1 Kettlebell, 9 Workouts You Can Do Anywhere

The 8-Minute Mile Standard

On Success and the Illusion of Choice

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 42 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo courtesy of Maryann Berry]

#1 – Master the Hollow Body Hold to Move Like a Gymnast

By Justin Lind

When the Olympic Games begin in Rio we will marvel at world-class athletes showcasing their skills as they compete for kin and country, medals and glory. The last few weeks brought the U.S. Olympic trials in gymnastics, where we got a taste of the strength, power, grace, and athleticism by our men’s and women’s gymnastics teams that we’ll see in Rio.

As with every Olympic year, interest in gymnastics and gymnastics-based fitness will peak. Gymnastics skills and strength are sexy, but do not rush straight for the rings or the bars. High-level gymnastics strength begins with a strong and stable core. If you want to move like a gymnast, you must have a strong hollow body position.

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#2 – You Can Squat…Now What?

By Chandler Stevens

Owning the flat-footed squat is kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure-book. From mobility and strength to coordination, the squat sets you up to develop a broad base of athleticism. Now that we’ve established how to go about finding comfort in the flat-footed squat, I want to share a few ways to continue your progress. Think of your squat as home base. You can explore quite a bit from there. How far you take it is entirely up to you.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

#3 – Transform Your Mindset to Transform Your Body

By Maryann Berry

This article is for those who have been told that you need to stop running because running is bad for your knees, and for those of you that have been told that you need to take it easy because your favorite sport is too “high impact”, and for those of you who have been told that your hip pain is due to old age. Consider for a moment that maybe your ailments are not due to wear and tear, or old age. Use the mindset check assignment at the end of this article to begin to explore new ways of thinking that empower healing and freedom within your body.

We all have the same innate abilities within ourselves to heal, and the mind is the most powerful vehicle for facilitating this process of healing within ourselves.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

Did You See These?

Advice for Lifelong Training: “Gray Hair and Black Iron”

Why You Aren’t Getting Better at Kettlebell Sport

Combine Sprints and Weight Training for Accelerated Gains

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 41 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo courtesy of Pixabay]

#1 – Courage Corner: Leaving the Gym for Better Training

By Josh Henkin

About five years ago, I did something that I never thought I would do: I closed my training facility. After operating it for over a decade, teaching all over the world had made me so busy I couldn’t provide the proper attention to my clients. While I knew this was the right business decision, one of my greatest apprehensions was “where would I train?”

With growing commitments and less time to train, I realized that my gym would have to be at home. I worried it wouldn’t be possible to train effectively without a big facility.

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#2 – The Cal Poly Armor Building Program

By Chris Holder

Root. Foundation. Base. These terms are interchangeable when talking about becoming a complete athlete. The most prolific athletes of our time have two intangible qualities that are the underpinning to their success: root and body awareness. Explosiveness, speed, agility, balance, strength, and power are a product of root and body awareness.

The Cal Poly Armor program came out of necessity. I was out with my football team teaching change of direction work and noticed a disconnect with their footing and turns. I spent weeks coaching specific things, saying the same cues a hundred different ways and couldn’t get them to display what I was asking. And then it dawned on me: we didn’t have a solid root. We had to go back to the most fundamental basics so all of the fancy stuff could flourish.

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#3 – Turbo Charged Kettlebells: The Double Swing

By Brandon Hofer

The double kettlebell swing is the foundation of the entire Turbo Charged Kettlebells series. Once the foundations are in place, it’s time to generate new enthusiasm around your strength training by focusing on new skills for incredible progress.

Throughout this series, you will return to the double swing over and over again. Keep in mind that this exercise must always be respected, even if you have lighter kettlebells in hand. Stay focused on what you are doing at all times. If you let your mind wander while performing double swings, your technique will become sloppy. Injuries are more often a result of consistent neglect over time than of a few reps done poorly.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

Did You See These?

Beat the Summer Heat and Run Like a Boss

How to Prevent a Bad Day on the Bench

Master the Hollow Body Hold to Move Like a Gymnast

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 40 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

(Photo courtesy of Stephanie Ring)

#1 – How to Assess Your Full-Body Flexibility

By Stephanie Ring

In my recent articles I’ve discussed the importance of functional flexibility for performance and some of the common stretching pitfalls we all make.

This movement list isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a great place to start. Each position focuses on a different movement pattern that you need to perform at your best. Through these movements, you might come to understand it’s your ankle mobility that is affecting your squat or your hamstring flexibility that is hindering your back position during deadlifts. Understanding these limitations can help you push past them to improve position and, ultimately, performance.

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#2 – 3 Amazing Full-Body Workouts for Summer Vacation

By Mike Dewar

Summer is the time of the year to reap the benefits of your hard training and clean eating throughout the spring. Hopefully most of you know what I mean by that, and you are eager to take your new winter and spring gains out for a test drive this summer season. If not, don’t worry. You may still have some time, but you need to get started with these three workouts.

No matter where you are, there are always ways you can be creative to build your own workout program. I recommend scoping out your facilities or environment on day one, and get out a pad of paper.

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#3 – The Gaps in Your Training Aren’t in the Gym

By Shane Trotter

When it comes to training, people are always convinced they need to do more. In a way, they are right. But what almost all athletes need significantly more of is not the cool stuff that gets retweets. It’s nutrition, mobility and recovery education, and most of all, mental training. For athletes at any level, these hidden gems are every bit as important for performance as your lifting, but they are largely ignored.

If your goal is to get to the next level, I encourage you to train and develop these other qualities.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

Did You See These?

Start Your Movement Practice

Sizing Up: How and When to Increase Your Kettlebell Weight

Summertime Post-Workout Nutrition

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 39 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo courtesy of CrossFit Games]

#1 – This Is Why People Hate CrossFit

By Pete Hitzeman

Nobody died at last year’s Reebok CrossFit Games. If Dave Castro’s recent announcement is any indication, CrossFit HQ considers that a missed opportunity.

On the 4th of July, Captain Smug combed his mullet back and made the first event announcement for the 2016 Games: Murph. In the California summer heat, with weight vests. Because last year, when multiple athletes were carted off the field on stretchers, suffering from dehydration, heat stroke, and rhabdo, it wasn’t quite dangerous enough.

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#2 – The Quick and Dirty Guide to Eating Clean

By Brad Borland

Counting calories, using food scales, tracking macronutrients, timing meals down to the minute, and using other tedious dieting methods are all the rage these days. If it isn’t backed by science or uttered by some decorated nutritionist with a ton of letters behind his or her name, then it is thrown on the bro-science heap of hunches, uneducated opinions, and old wives tales.

But eating to improve your body composition shouldn’t be rocket science. The human body isn’t a machine that behaves in the exact same ways each and every day.

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#3 – The Two Minds of the Barbell Athlete

By CJ Gotcher

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Did You See These?

3 Amazing Full-Body Workouts for Summer Vacation

Race Strong: Gut Health for Endurance Athletes

Get Back on the Horse

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 38 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo courtesy of Cara Kobernik]

#1 – Adrenal Fatigue and the Athlete

By Lauryn Lax

If you experience constant fatigue or a plateau in your training, you might find yourself saying things like, “If I just dial in my diet some more,” or “If I just add in a little cardio…” But what you really need is rest, permission to de-stress, a careful look at your nutrition, and education.

The majority of us will experience adrenal fatigue at some point in our lives. What is it, and how do you know if you’re at risk?

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#2 – Diastasis Recti and the Athlete

By Nicole Crawford

After the birth of my second child, I had some serious complications that kept me in bed for six weeks. That period of immobility, combined with the pressure of pregnancy and a cesarean section, left me with significant abdominal weakness.

It took me about nine months to realize there was a lot more going on than weakness. One day, while doing one of those typical “Mom wants to get her belly back to normal” ab routines, it dawned on me that I should probably check to see if my abs were still separated. Sure enough, the six-pack ab muscles I had been so proud of regaining after my first daughter’s birth were long gone. In their place, I was left with a gaping abyss that could easily accommodate my entire fist. Sure enough, the doctor diagnosed diastasis recti.

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#3 – Turbo Charged Kettlebells: Setting the Foundation

By Brandon Hofer

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Did You See These?

Build Mental Toughness in Kettlebell Sport

Real Food Fundamentals

The Dying Breed of Natural Athletes

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 37 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo courtesy of Shutterstock]

#1 – A Peek Inside Renissance Periodization

By Lauryn Lax

With training, the muscle groups may change each day, the exercises, reps, and weights we use stay the same week in and week out. Couple that with a diet plan that “everyone is doing” for building muscle and losing fat, and the results are often mediocre at best.

Enter Renaissance Periodization, a new twist on old-school bodybuilding and physique training, coupled with a more individualized approach to nutrition, to help people keep their training progressive and results-oriented.

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#2 – How Abs of Steel Cause Back Pain

By Jennifer Houghton

Have you ever had back pain? After it went away, did it come back again? Did that motivate you to do more ab and core work? Did it still come back? The recurrence of back pain despite doing back and core stabilization exercises may indicate there is a missing ingredient to the current model of core exercise programs.

You work out to improve the strength of your back and core. But what if your breathing is counteracting your training?

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#3 – 5 Common Stretching Pitfalls

By Stephanie Ring

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Did You See These?

Sprinting Basics for Strength Athletes

Get Your Fitness House in Order

Detox Diets: Claims Versus Facts

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 36 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo courtesy of Chandler Stevens]

#1 – The Definitive Guide to Owning Your Flat Footed Squat

By Chandler Stevens

When it comes to mobility challenges, it seems like mastering the flat-footed squat is one of the trickiest. Progress can be frustratingly slow, and even if we do get our heels down, we often find ourselves uncomfortably hunched in the bottom position. Rarely is it a position we’d consider rest. In this article I want to introduce you to some of the most effective tools to unlock freedom in your squat.

Keep in mind: there’s no overnight fix. But if you commit to the process of freeing up your joints, you’ll find that the benefits extend far beyond gains in the gym.

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#2 – Glute Training for Real Life Strength

By Jessica Bento

Most people define functional training as “training that relates to real life.” This is a wonderful philosophical definition, but it does little to clarify the methods, programming, and use of functional training.

A great example of this challenge of understanding human function can be seen in the popularity of “glute training.” While many strategies can help in developing “stronger glutes,” the overall goal of any good functional program is not to just make a muscle stronger, but more integrated with the body’s entire system.

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#3 – The Myth of Exercise and Weight Loss

By Eric Stevens

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4 Key Supplements for Athletes

Real Food Isn’t Complicated

Behind the Diet Curtain

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 35 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo courtesy of Stephanie Ring]

#1 – Master the Fundamentals: Functional Flexibility

By Stephanie Ring

Functional flexibility and natural range of motion are the foundations of optimal performance in most athletic activities. Being able to move our bodies in the way they were intended, without restriction, creates efficient movement. For an athlete, this leads to bigger lifts, higher jumps, and increased speed. For everyone else, it means reduced lower back pain, better posture, and improved circulation.

As we age and sit for longer periods of time, muscle imbalances and tightness develop. These cause changes in our movement patterns, which can affect our performance. We can prevent these types of restrictions, but it takes time, energy, discipline, and an understanding of why the body moves the way it does.

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#2 – Fuel to Be Strong: Nutrition for Strength Athletes

By Kyle Hunt

Let’s face it: most of the quality nutrition information comes out of the bodybuilding community and is aimed at bodybuilders. And that makes sense. Nutrition plays a huge role in improving body composition. But as a strength athlete, you don’t need to eat for aesthetics.

It doesn’t matter how effective your training program is, or even how good your genetics are, nutrition is important. If you want to be as strong as possible, you need to get your nutrition dialed in. There is no room for error in your quest to be the best.

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#3 – The Dark Side of Fitspiration

By Nicole Crawford

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Did You See These?

Be Silent to Be Efficient

Should You Track Your Nutrition?

Don’t Judge the Judging: Do Something About It

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 34 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo courtesy of Cara Kobernik]

#1 – There Are No Tricks in Fitness

By Robert Camacho

We all love to talk about programming. The term evokes a sense of tapping into our own genetic code and using some secret program (“One weird trick!”) to unlock our hidden genetic potential. We get caught up in the more mythical implications. We tell ourselves the more complex and profound our programming is, the more complex and profound our results will be.

There are plenty of articles that go into exhaustive detail on sets, reps, and percentages. I’m not going to do that. Instead, in this article we’re going to take a look at the big-picture stuff that most people completely ignore.

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#2 – How to Train for Everything at Once

By Brad Borland

Modern-day trainees have more information, equipment, and assistance at their disposal than ever before. There’s been a renaissance of knowledge about the myriad training modes, methods, and styles. This has led to a melding of functional methods, including Olympic lifting, pure strength training, functional movements, power, and hypertrophy.

Let’s take a closer look at your wants and needs. We’ll break down how to fit all of these variables into a carefully planned schedule to optimize performance and progression.

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#3 – EDT: Time Management Meets Weight Training

By Charles Staley

Some of my more recent readers may not be aware of a training system that I’m perhaps best known for: Escalating Density Training (EDT). In fact, eleven years ago I wrote a book on the subject, and I’ve done a fair amount of writing on the web about it as well. It’s been some time since I’ve talked about EDT, so I thought I’d revisit the subject for my newer readers.

For those who have never heard of EDT, I often refer to it as “time management meets weight training.” I’ve done my best to apply time and energy management principles to the practice of resistance training, with the goal of improving the efficiency of your efforts at the gym.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

Did You See These?

Demystifying Programming for the Everyday Athlete

So You Want to Write Your Own Program

There Is No Such Thing as Perfect Form

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 33 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

[Photo courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography]

#1 – Mid-Back Mobility: Strength With a Twist

By Perry Nickelston

The thoracic spine is designed for rotation. It’s supposed to rotate more than your lumbar spine, but for the majority of people, it’s the opposite. Why? Lifestyle choices lead to posture that feeds thoracic spine dysfunction. Hunching over your cell phone and rounding your shoulders increases your thoracic curve, making efficient rotation damn near impossible.

Every joint in the body must be mobile and stable. The amount of mobility and stability your joints have depends on the environment you are in and the role they need to play. If the body feels safe, it will grant you more movement. If it feels threatened, it will restrict movement for self-preservation.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

#2 – A Guide to Regain Your Flexibility

By Javier Garza

Flexibility is a critical component to a well-rounded training program, and is essential for maintaining quality of life as we age. Once you treat your flexibility gains with the same seriousness as you do your strength gains, the freedom of movement, decreased pain, and lessened tension throughout the body will have you hooked.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I still have a long way to go when it comes to developing my own flexibility. I’ve spent a large portion of my training career chasing higher poundage on the bar with the bare minimum time put into stretching. Many of you are probably in the same boat.

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#3 – Dave Matthews, the Elliptical Machine, and the Haters

By Chris Holder

As I read many of the articles published all over the Internet, one thing is consistent: there are millions of self-proclaimed experts (i.e., “haters”) out there. They love nothing more than to tell you what you should, and more importantly shouldn’t be doing. They’ll quote a couple studies and talk about how their Uncle Phil or their neighbor failed at exactly what you are doing.

But I don’t expect you all to agree with me. For that matter, I don’t expect you to care what I have to say about the exercises or routines you love. I’m not you. I don’t know what gets you up and moving. All I care about is whether you find it.

[CONTINUE READING HERE]

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How to Train for Strongman at Any Gym

Postpartum: The Gift of Starting Over

Programming for the Unexpected: Risk vs. Reward

New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post 3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 32 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.