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
Simple Rules for Crushing Health and Life
From the day I could talk, I knew I wanted to be seven. I was named after the famous western about a wandering cowboy. My father talked up what an honor it was to share a name with this cool, strong silent ... Continue Reading
Inside-Out-Health Before Fitness
Like most trainers, I sit down with people to discuss their goals and their motivation to “change” before I take them on as a client. I also ask them to complete an exercise history and health ... Continue Reading
5 Reasons Your Friends and Family Don’t Listen to You About Health
You just know your friend or family member could benefit from making simple changes to their training or nutrition, but they seem resistant to it. It is so obvious to you that lifting weights could get rid ... Continue Reading
Detoxify, Reset & Restore – 12 Weeks to Return to Peak Function and Strength
Summer is coming to an end – it’s a harsh reality to us sun worshipers and beach bums, but it’s true. While it has been fun for the majority of us, it has come with Fourth of July barbecues, nights out on ... Continue Reading
4 Ways Your Nutrition Can Help Prevent Sunburn
If you love training outdoors, you’ve certainly battled the sun more than a few times. Sunburn damage is a serious health concern. But sunscreen, sweat, and kettlebells don’t always work well together. ... Continue Reading
1 Simple Step Anyone Can Take to Improve Digestion
I’ve always been fascinated by the Tootsie Pops’ commercial question: “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?” I haven’t eaten one of those things since the ... Continue Reading
How to Diagnose and Treat Low Back Pain Without an MRI
When I graduated from University with my education in physiotherapy, I embarked on a quest that continues today - to understand spinal problems as well as anyone on the planet ever has and to be the best I ... Continue Reading
Period Periodization: Harnessing the Power of Your Cycle
Women, does your hormone cycle affect the intensity, difficulty, and quality of your workout? Would you be interested in learning why this happens, how you can maximize your training goals and reduce ... Continue Reading
You Need to Be Strong: Investing In the Currency of Health
“If you think lifting weights is dangerous, try being weak. Being weak is dangerous.” - Bret Contreras Strength occupies an interesting cultural space. While many of us respect it and see it as ... Continue Reading
What Happened to Movement for Health?
As foreign as it may seem now, there was once a time when virtually every human was full of vitality and physical resilience. I am talking, of course, about the ages before the dawn of ... Continue Reading
Study Gives Tips for Healthy Habit Formation in Kids (and Adults)
If we could master turning our healthy goals into ironclad habits – habit defined as “a learned process that generates automatic responses to contextual cues” – we might just achieve the pinnacle of ... Continue Reading
Tips for Staying Healthy While Visiting Loved Ones in the Hospital
For the past two weeks, I’ve been unfortunate enough to spend a lot of time in the ICU and rehab visiting my dad. The experience has made me realize that when you’re surrounded by sick people, you’ve got ... Continue Reading
Researchers Link Carbohydrate Intake to Higher Chance of Mortality
The impact of glycemic index and glycemic load on health and longevity is still being discovered. In a recent PLoS ONE study, researchers sought to find the effect of these values on populations at high ... Continue Reading
Vitamin D in Elite Athletes: The More the Better
Vitamin D affects your muscles, immune system, and energy levels, so it will probably also have an effect on your performance. In a new study in PLOS One, researchers wanted to see whether vitamin D levels ... Continue Reading
Survivor’s Bias: How We Miss the Mark With Our Athletes
Today I’m going to discuss something you’ve never been introduced to on this site or probably any other fitness site, for that matter. This concept has typically been observed in the financial sector, but ... Continue Reading
CLA Does Not Improve Cardio, Endurance, or Power
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been a popular supplement for controling insulin and blood sugar from some time, but it has recently come under fire in the scientific community because of inconsistent ... Continue Reading
Vitamin D Insufficiency: A Surprising Trend In Athletic Adults
Many athletes are deficient in vitamin D, which is important for bone health and metabolism. However, until a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, a comprehensive assessment ... Continue Reading
Higher Exercise Intensity Correlates With Suppressed Immunity
Sometimes when you come down with a cold or flu while training intensely, you know that pushing yourself too hard was the culprit. While it’s understood that excessive training can make you vulnerable to ... Continue Reading
Hormones 101: 8 Articles For Athletes
Hormones can be our best friends or our worst enemies, depending on whether or not we keep them in check. Here are 8 articles about hormones - testosterone, relaxin, cortisol, oxytocin, leptin, growth ... Continue Reading
Are You Suffering From Adrenal Fatigue?
All too often I hear about how people have just done this amazing challenge at their gym and cleaned up their diet, only to feel “okay.” I hear about people who have overcome an emotional crisis or ... Continue Reading
Understanding Energy Systems: ATP-PC, Glycolytic and Oxidative – Oh My!
Human bioenergetics is an interesting topic. However, energy systems function is understood by few and/or can be confusing to many. Open a quality exercise physiology text and it can leave you saying ... Continue Reading
Harnessing Momentum: 2 Tools for Creating and Keeping It
“Momentum” is one of my favorite concepts. It pervades all areas of success and is always a missing or misguided ingredient when struggle is present. Who hasn’t had a period in their present or history ... Continue Reading
Insurance for MMA Fighters – It’s Real and It’s Affordable
Professional mixed martial arts fighters put their health and well-being at risk every day. Even the most scrupulous and seasoned practitioners may find themselves seriously injured by an errant knee or a ... Continue Reading
