2009 Trish loved to workout. She wanted to run fast, have the muscle definition of a bodybuilder, the booty of a Brazilian goddess (without the jiggle), and be really strong and athletic. Your girl just had no idea how to achieve all that. Never mind the fact that these were a lot of goals to tackle at once. Yet, I …
5 Pilates Moves for Back Strength
Strengthening your back for lifting and living is pretty obvious to many. It’s a pretty simple line of reasoning: The more you lift weights, the stronger your [back] muscles get, and the stronger your muscles are, the easier/better life becomes. The flip side to this coin is that lifting can also lead to back discomfort and pain. Or more specifically, …
Five Pilates Exercises for Your Core
Make no mistake…the Pilates abdominal series is a real core burner. No matter how strong those abdominals get, these five exercises seem to always cause a few groans whenever I teach them. Unlike your basic ab crunch or sit-up, the Pilates ab series of five can do a lot more than just give you a nice six-pack. They offer up …
A Simple Movement & Posture Fix: Start With Your Feet
Are you using your feet right? Can you ignite the back side of your body when you stand, lift, or move? Chances are, the answer is no. I don’t blame you for this. Fitness culture is obsessed with the front side of the body: how it looks, how it moves, how to engage this or that big muscle. It’s …
Back Flexibility Exercise for Lifters: The Rollup
To the untrained eye, the Rollup appears to be one giant sit-up requiring the kind of core strength one can only dream of. But the truth is, this famous Pilates exercise has less to do with your abdominals and a lot more to do with your back flexibility. This is often the Roll-up can feel extremely difficult even to the …
Exercise How To: Push Press and Military Press
Long before I became a trainer and barbell connoisseur, I assumed all overhead presses were the same. You grabbed a weight, pressed it over your head, put it down, and turned into a magical unicorn. At the time, I didn’t know the difference between horizontal and vertical pressing movements, just like I had no idea that different presses needed to …
Body Shaming Yourself Fit Is Not The Answer
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 …
10 Ways to Get Leaner and Stronger By Summer, Starting Now
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 …
The 5 Rules Every Group Fitness Attendee Should Live By
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 …
Take your Fitness to the Next Level with Percentage-based Training
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, …