Where being strong is a lifestyle
If you could see into the future and knew your strength training workouts would be shut down by a shoulder injury, would you start doing things differently today? Not many people spend time maintaining shoulder health, but a lot of people spend time being injured. Shoulder injuries are ridiculously common, and those of us who lift weights should be focused not only building strength and size but on keeping our shoulders healthy. It’s a relatively delicate joint that we punish {Read More…}
Ever since I started periodizing my training, I’ve had to grapple with entire weeks of backing off the weights. As those who lift smartly know, you can’t go hard every single day. There need to be lighter intensity weeks cycled in so that your joints can recover from the stress of hard training. I went hard nonstop for years because I hate backing off the weights. Having to lift lighter during my usual routine makes it very hard for me {Read More…}
Kettle bells, ahh. As I’ve been investigating and learning their endless applications I’ve also became more and more excited about them. Kettle bells can be used for movements ranging from explosive Olympic lifts to more endurance-oriented Tabata protocols. Many kettle bell exercises provide full-body conditioning, which increase your strength and cardiorespiratory systems simultaneously. So why would I want to share my precious gym time with kettle bells? I’ll never give up traditional lifting, but with all the fun and advantages {Read More…}
A quick note… I’m humbled that my friend @taraburner asked me to be highlighted in her weekly Fitspo feature. Check it out – and her site about healthy mind, body, and soul! Training each muscle using a split routine (in addition to a clean diet) provides highly satisfying results, especially if you’re into crazy muscle definition and hypertrophy. It’s also a sweet deal if you’re into hours of hammering your shoulders, legs, or back (or whatever muscle) with specific (and {Read More…}
My first-ever interaction with my friend Roy Cohen was quite memorable: An email regarding my blog that made me laugh and raise my eyebrows and even squirm a little. But I like people who get to the point and I love people who can make me laugh. So we became friends, and Roy also became a mentor who helped me grow in my weight lifting and writing passions. I learned that Roy is an experienced and down-to-earth personal trainer (and blogger) – the {Read More…}
You’ve probably heard the term “functional training” used by fitness professionals, gyms, and the media for everything from explosive power movements to yoga. It’s a recent catch phrase that has many different interpretations and can be confusing as to how it relates to weight training. Some might even wonder if they should scrap their traditional weight lifting routine in favor of functional training. According to the American Council on Exercise, functional strength training enhances the performance of movements so that {Read More…}
