We love our hip thrusts around here at Barbell Pilates, and anyone who has trained with me in-person or inside my online coaching program BarbellSTRONG has done the hip thrust before. Not only is the best exercise for building the ship of your glutes, it’s an incredible hinge movement that carries over well into performance. If you’ve been running a …
I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a fan of home workouts. Like many of you, I prefer to be in a gym, amidst the muscles, loud music, sweat, and unlimited equipment. That is my happy place. The pandemic forced all of us outside of our comfort zones, myself included. I’m a big believer in turning …
I’ve never been one for dogma, particularly the ones in strength training, diet, and Pilates communities. It has a way of alienating people, and I find that everyone has a personal right to ask question and determine what works best for them. In Pilates in particular, there are some beliefs or cues that are passed down from teacher to student …
Do you know how to grip the bar or dumbbell when you lift? While this seems like a basic question, in my years as a trainer, I often see people default to a grip that doesn’t suit the act of lifting weights. A weak grip equals to weakness, period. You won’t be able to lift as heavy, or get pull-ups …
It’s incredibly frustrating to watch ourselves rise to the occasion for something we truly want only to backslide into our old habits a few weeks later and fail, again. False starts repeated over and over again are not character flaws, but a combination of poor habits, poor systems, and lack of knowledge. I was and sometimes still am a person …
Is it just me, or do you feel like you’ve aged 100 years since shelter-in-place began a few months ago? It seems like every day is the same except there are more obstacles, more stress, – and likely more crying – going on than ever before. To top it all off, you’re likely feeling more stiffness, more aches, and holding …
If you’re used to lifting weights or being outdoors for your fitness, this time of social distancing can feel like a physical and emotional unraveling of sorts. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You spent months building a routine, you were *just* starting to get consistent…and now you’re a responsible citizen who stays the f*ck inside, for your safety and that of others. It’s unclear …
There are few things I dislike about strength training, but if you must know, they are: a) People that don’t re-rack their weights b) Bros that puff their chest out when they walk at the gym c) The bench press You might be surprised by option “C” but that’s because bench pressing is my #1 nemesis of the main lifts. It’s …
A lot of trainers might get mad at me for this but… Squats are cool, but they aren’t everything. You heard me. Squats are not everything, and it takes a lot of effort to hold back my eye roll when I hear someone say that you “just need to squat more” in order to get a bigger butt, get strong, …
There are a lot of things in the fitness world that make me cringe: Curling in the squat rack Anyone that says lifting heavy makes women “big” Using muscle soreness as the end-all-be-all sign that an exercise is “working” Literally anything with pink dumbbells Number #3 is one that really grinds my gears most because far too many fitness certified …
