Are You Doing What Really Matters?
There's an epidemic in the health and fitness space of worrying about stuff that doesn’t matter. Can I drink coffee within 30 mins of waking up? How many reps in reserve is best? Should cold plunge every morning or sauna every evening? How do I isolate the lateral head of the triceps? How do I get sunlight when I wake up when there isn’t sunlight when I wake up? Minutiae in the health &...
Key to successful fat loss? Confidence
Confidence is a big part of successful fat loss. While the basic physiological tenets, such as a sustained calorie deficit, HAVE to be in line, a So-So Plan that you believe in 100% will be more successful than The Perfect Plan that you just don’t think is good enough (or cutting-edge enough) to work. That’s one important reason so many people can get into shape following wildly different...
Do genetics make a difference?
A fair question. So let's take a look. On the left, we have the late Rocky Johnson. On the right, his son Dwayne. Clearly the apple didn't fall from the tree. Genetics for the win! But is it really that simple? As powerful as genetics may be, they're just one piece. They’re also routinely misunderstood, especially on social media. Ever see some jacked dude on IG post a photo from before they...
Key programming modifications for older lifters
Blanket "cookie cutter" recommendations for mature lifters are useless. A 49-year-old can have a 35+ year training history (good and bad)—they might not have exercised regularly since high school. Of course, the most important areas that almost always require modifying relate to recovery—which fundamentally comes down to improving sleep, and managing stress, both in and out of the gym. But with...
Creating flexibility
The Big Rocks of a diet & exercise plan are surprisingly flexible. You don’t have to follow specific workout splits, work in certain rep ranges, or include a bunch of "must-do” exercises. Calories don’t have to be the same every day, and you can even work off a 7-day average. The weekly average approach also applies to daily step count—a simple indicator of how much you move but a BIG...
“You can’t keep adding”
This is one of my favorite sayings concerning exercise programming. You can’t just keep adding exercises, workouts, cardio, conditioning, or even just stuff to do—or remember to do! Everything has a cost, and it all feeds into the equation of time, energy, and focus versus overwhelm. Here’s another way of looking at it: Everything you do or make time for writes a check from your Recovery Bank...
Troubleshooting progress plateaus
In the '80s, Van Halen was the biggest rock band in the world. Their live performances were legendary, as was their artist rider—the part of the performance contract that specifies everything the artist required to perform that day. The long rider contained a clause requesting that "a large bowl of M&Ms with all brown ones removed” be placed in the dressing room. And while it was frequently...