fitness

"The genius is the one most like himself." - Thelonius Monk I was always told to pick one thing. Pick one major in college to define my life, one career to put all my effort into, one way to make a ... Continue Reading

Do you remember your high school English class? When your teacher first taught you how to write an essay, they probably began first with how to create an outline. Once you format your outline, it will be ... Continue Reading

Do you remember the first time you squatted with a barbell? I don’t know the details of my first squat. I couldn’t tell you where I was, what weight I added to the bar that day, or if I had a friend to ... Continue Reading

"Buy my template, and you’ll not only get stronger, but it’s all you’ll ever need." Have you ever heard a popular coach or trainer say this? Templates are for sale, usually as an ebook or a PDF ... Continue Reading

The first gym I trained at looked like a set from a 80's action movie. From the outside, it looked like an old stone mill. Every member was given a key to get in and train whatever time of day or night you ... Continue Reading

He shifts his weight, each time swaying his shoulders as to not stand square with the man standing in front of him. His eyes scan up as he speaks and catches the coach’s eye for only a second before ... Continue Reading

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed yesterday, violating my rule to not mindlessly look through social media, when I saw a familiar figure. The plates stacked on the end of the barbell collar blocked ... Continue Reading

I’ll bet you’ve heard of training to failure. It’s popular in the always do more attitude that’s seeped into the strength and fitness communities. This style of training usually makes the mind wander to ... Continue Reading

Two years ago, Max Aita and I sat down for a beer in a dive bar in Brooklyn, after he taught his first weightlifting clinic at JDI Barbell. We discussed the Olympic weightlifting technique and agreed. ... Continue Reading

You ever listened to the Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler? The chorus reads: "If you're gonna play the game, boy You gotta learn to play it right You've got to know when to hold 'em Know when ... Continue Reading

Coaching cues have been a way to treat living, breathing people as machines. To cause someone to move a particular way, we’re taught to give them a specific set of commands to get a reliable outcome. But ... Continue Reading

Occasionally, I pop my head out of my cave to examine where the average level of insight among the general public is in regards to strength and conditioning. I’m not as pessimistic as many of my ... Continue Reading

I’ll defend percentage-based training program's efficacy for powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting until the bitter end, or when I’m muttering to myself on a park bench wearing a sleeping bag as a sport ... Continue Reading

Part 1 of this series explored ways to choose new disciplines to add to your current training. Part 2 of this series addressed making a plan to help ensure your success in your new endeavors. We’ll ... Continue Reading

Part 1 of this series included suggestions on how to select new practices to expand on your current training regime based on your interests and capabilities, and explored ways to help you evaluate and ... Continue Reading

The question will always creep up, in one form or another. Someone may ask how to include yoga into their strength training schedule. Someone else, who’s defined their fitness through bodybuilding ... Continue Reading

It’s easy to see its green scales when you’re shining a light on a competition platform. It may be your first competition, or maybe your third. You’re in a chair in the back, but you can see the barbell ... Continue Reading

Let me tell you what’s improved my Olympic weightlifting technique, and that of the lifters I coach more than anything else — focusing on balance, specifically keeping the pressure on the mid-foot on the ... Continue Reading

In New York City, where I’m from, it seems impossible to get around quickly. It’s hard to express to someone not from here, the heartwrenching feeling of despair you have when you miss the train and have ... Continue Reading

My Bench Press Has Stalled It must be one of the most frequently asked questions on internet fitness forums. It’s also the most common conversation I have with every member at my gym who practices ... Continue Reading

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

Most of us who train frequently are familiar with the psoas muscle, short for iliopsoas, and commonly referred to as the hip flexor. “My hip flexors are tight.” “My hip flexors hurt.” “My hip ... Continue Reading

You’ve been suffering from chronic aches and back pain so you go to the doctor to get it checked out. You may find out you have a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, bulging disc, scoliosis or muscle strain. ... Continue Reading

A client came in recently, slightly irritated. “Jenn, you aren’t going to believe the commercial I recently saw. You are going to be upset.” Intrigued, because this client knows me well and she knows very ... Continue Reading