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 …
A Quick Guide to Making the Bench Press Your Bitch
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 …
Alternatives to Building Lower Body Strength
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, …
The Meaning Behind Muscle Soreness
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 …
3 Glute Activation Exercises
Are your glutes firing when you squat, lunge, jump, and deadlift? Believe it or not, most of our glutes aren’t, and there’s a fix for this. You want dem glutes firing on all cylinders when you lift. Even if you train hard everyday, taking time to turn them “on” will go a long way in optimizing your lifts and preventing low …
Power Training for the General Population Client
Should You Train For Power or Strength? The answer is…you can do both. I’d argue that everyone needs power, especially if you enjoy getting after it in the gym and living a very active lifestyle. The sooner you begin power training in your training years (read: Not referring to your age), the more well-rounded, resilient, durable, and athletic you’ll remain in …
5 Mistakes to Avoid in Deficit Training
If you ever wondered how to get more bang out of an exercise you already know and love, the deficit is where it’s at. Long before I became a trainer, deficit training wasn’t even on my radar. The only way I knew how to progress an exercise like the squat or lunge was to make the weight heavier or more …
Four Filler Exercises to Boost Your Squat
People that say squatting is similar to squatting down to a toilet seat don’t understand squats. Or at least, they are oversimplifying an exercise that demands a lot more from us than going #1 or #2. In order to squat deep and well, you have to meet certain mobility requirements, which I’ve discussed at length HERE, HERE and HERE. Here are …
Adding Progressive Overload to Your Workouts
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 …
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 …