I used to work in an office where good work was rarely rewarded, but mistakes big or small were magnified and publicly shamed for everyone to see. Sometimes the shaming was subtle, and other times it was plain as day. The office’s infamous “Bun Fund” was one example of the deeply rooted culture of shame and fear. The Bun Fund’s …
I’m a big believer in training cycles and adjusting workouts around the seasons of your life. Not only does this make training more sustainable, but it’s a good idea to give your body a break from hardcore workouts or diets throughout the year. For the average person, it’s common to slow down around the holidays and take diet breaks in …
Group fitness studios are popping up all over the place for a reason. Not only do we want a great workout in a top-notch environment, but we humans crave community and connection above all else. That’s why we’re willing to drop hundreds of dollars for studios like SoulCycle, Orangetheory, and even CrossFit. But don’t be fooled by the great …
A few weeks ago, I got together with one of my powerlifting friends and discussed all the valuable things we learning during that season in our lives. We reminisced about how strong we were, how fun competing was and how simple and intentional each workout was. Within that simplicity we made the biggest gains in our strength, technique, muscle mass, …
Long before I became a diehard deadlift diva (how about that for alliteration), I was doing nothing but basic deadlifts. A conventional pull here, a dumbbell RDL there but nothing wild. It got a little stale, and even though I was hitting PRs (I was still a beginner, so that was no surprise), I felt like my goal of deadlifting …
After years of training myself and others, I finally learned (sometimes the hard way), that little tweaks here and there in your programming can be the biggest game changer in your fitness. For example, when I started percentage-based training, my strength levels and muscle definition went through the roof. When I switched to sumo deadlifts instead of traditional, I was able …
Let’s paint a picture. Woman walks in to a training studio and proclaims “I want to tighten up, be able to do a chin-up, get stronger, lose this belly [insert aggressive skin grabbing here], and I’d also like to go back into running without my knees hurting.” I, the trainer, sighs and waves a magic wand and everything happens in …
There are three things in this world that I like to binge on: Netflix’s Narcos (all seasons, thankyouverymuch) Almond butter Podcasts The third one in particular, is where I get to geek out on a variety of topics, so I was honored when my good friend Steph Gaudreau (formerly of Stupid Easy Paleo), brought me in to speak on her podcast …
Cardio gets a bad rep in the strength and conditioning world. Coaches love to demonize it and mainstream media glorifies it. I for one, love all forms of cardio training, especially any that uses kettlebells or other form of weights as the primary tool. This article is mainly about some fun cardio routines you can do with kettlbells, but before …
While corrective exercises aren’t sexy, they are fundamental for safe overhead lifting. I didn’t know anything about these types of exercises when I started weight training, and if I did, I probably wouldn’t have hurt my shoulders! If you aren’t ready to overhead press, you’ll want to do these exercises regularly as part of your warm-up and recovery routine. Every. …
