"Recovery days don't mean much and you should just rest passively" This is dangerous advice, but actually what I undoubtedly believed at one point sadly. Recovery and Regeneration Days are a dedicated training theme that provide tremendous opportunity to gain an edge over competition, or at least get the most out of your program. The effect is twofold. You're maximizing the day itself, but how you go about your business will always determine in part the quality of your next

You should always strive to do the things you have to do even when you don't want to do them. This is commonly known as; Motivation leveraging: By doing extra on on- days, you naturally allow yourself leeway psychologically to know you're ahead of the game on off days, and if you fight through your off-days your still ahead and there isn't as much pressure or work needed to do what you've already conquered or achieved previously. In other words, "Do the ultra hard things w

" You need to perform different cuts and changes of direction in your athletic training." This was a message sent on a website from a very so called prominent trainer in the Reno-Tahoe area the other day. Suffice it to say the information is lacking on so many levels, but does provide some accuracy in that you do need to practice change of direction (COD), and cutting practice frequently. In this case and with what you often see the buck stops here and it's at the expense o

Caleb wood played for Penn University for two full seasons and went from being an average D1 player to a standout contributor in his team's quest for an eventual Ivy League Championship! See his game clinching 3 pointer here. Caleb was a huge fan of exercise autonomy after he trained with me a few years, and it made a world of difference in both his motivation levels and performance measures. Autonomy is a fairly unknown term in the training industry that refers to the abil

"Eat carbs every single day for the rest of your life" Yes you read that right. It's sad that the statement I provided you would usually be deemed a misnomer this day and age. The reality is there isn't a valid study to support the superiority of LCD (Low Carb Diet) or VLCD (Very Low Carb Diet) on metabolic rate, hunger/appetite, or weight and fat loss. Especially when compared to the overwhelming amount of evidence to disprove the whole notion. And the National Weight Lo

"Practice Eccentric or Loaded control of foot during sprint starts" Supposedly there was a recent study according to an industry expert that identified the need for greater dorsiflexion to enable the foot to position itself in such a way to create greater propulsion during a sprint start. It sounds great on paper, but the reality here is that you don't need much dorsiflexion since max ROM is only 20 degrees. And if you don't have sufficient dorsiflexion then you are going to

"Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5 and 6, Blue No. 1 and 2. are toxic to your health" No doubt the topic of food dyes on general and mental health factors is running rampant right now, so I figured that I would join in on the fun and address what science actually says on the matter since it's part of my brand. Too simplify, I'll break the blog up into two distinct parts which address and provide the current evidence on food dyes as it relates to cancer since that seems to be one of t

I'm going to be a bit lazy right now and keep this blog incredibly short simply because there is zero need to reinvent the wheel on this topic. I will be providing a redirect link to a product that discusses everything you ever would need to know about GLP-1's if you want to dig in and learn more. The short answer is yes, though. Too many people in our society have experienced profound success with this new age supplement that mimics our natural peptide chains that help se

'Draw your abdominals in to build a stronger healthier core" This one isn't very hard to prove. Have someone hit you in the stomach and see what your natural instinct is, or try to draw in. Bottom line, is it's not going to work out to well for you. And if that somehow offended you go ahead and perform a weighted squat while trying to keep from bracing or drawing your abs outward. It's nearly impossible. I could have picked several squat variations to make the point, but

"Hit your weighted carries regularly" It just occured to me at work how much I look forward to and absolutely enjoy carrying heavy things. I think it's just primal and innate for men, not to mention a very formidable and powerful tool in your training toolbox. This drill was pioneered by Dr. Joel Seedman years back. It's an absolute gem when it comes to building focus and mental toughness under duress, plus the myriad of physical benefits it brings to the table. Farmer carr

"Use intense strength training to correct your posture more than actual postural restoration drills" It almost goes without saying that posture drills normally don't translate, simply because they don't prepare you for moving in everyday life (Law of Specificity). You can do static positions all you want and it won't hurt anything, but you still always need movement, tension, stress, and appropriate stimuli (I,e, Plank) or it's fundamentally useless in all cases, as there ar

"Protein raises your metabolism the most" I swear if you were to just take the advice of everyday people passing by, you would be hard pressed to believe that protein does just about everything, and we really don't need to eat anything else. Emotional overreactions are so commonplace in the fitness industry especially, that they have undoubtedly cemented many people's belief systems when it comes to nutrition. The path of least resistance in critical thinking is real, and I

"Use bearable static pressure when Foam Rolling (SMFR)" There are a lot of approaches circulating when it comes to applying foam rolling soft tissue work. Many are plausible and effective for different objectives, but when It comes to managing neural and muscle tone or activity, the original message associated with the resilient technique still reigns supreme after all these years. Be sure to also look out for triggers that tend to form at or near the musculo-tendonous jun

"We don't digest food well and our GI needs special foods or supplements to accommodate the deficiency" Ok that title may have been a little excessive and I could have been a little more concise with it, but it still drives the point home I believe. Also, I write these whenever I hear, think, or read about so much nonsense that still surrounds fitness culture, especially the mainstream that strongly confuses people everywhere. There are different interpretations of this mes

"Movement evaluations are mandatory for all clients and athletes" I want to preface that at one time or another over the past 20 years I have practiced exercise testing and various popular and supposedly essential movement evaluations with my clients and athletes. Whether Its The NASM's OH/Single Leg Squat Screening, Goniometric Testing, The Functional Movement Screen, or Orthopedic Tests (i.e. Kuhns Series), Impingement Tests, or any other I've been there and done that. Th

"Skips make you faster and improve sprint technique" Skips and all of its forms are still promoted as a staple in athletic development programs throughout the country. I must admit we implement skip variations for very short periods on off day recovery workouts and in movement prep/warm-up phases of our program, but not for the reasons that are popularly discussed, or what you would expect. According to (Kivi, 1997) A and B Skips, or Mach Skips as they are commonly referred

"The Most Underrated Healthy Benefit of Walking" "Optic Flow" is the wider vision response that allows our eyes to move laterally and use our peripheral to see objects as they pass by as we move forward. This turns off the overworking Amygdala in the brain and increases PNS response, which immediately reduces stress and anxiety. Stimulating the PNS activates "The Rest and Digest System" that everyone is trying to tap into these days. This is also partly why active individ

"Carbohydrates aren't essential" I've seen this statement thrown around carelessly for years and years, and it often stems from very legitimate resources whom I respect tremendously and definitely help the industry overall. However, it's extremely short sighted and "unrealistic" more than anything because literally every human being that has walked the face of the earth circles back to eating carbohydrates at some point no matter how much disdain or willpower they possess.

I don't know if you could tell, but I absolutely love to research training science and share everything I learn through writing. And I was particularly interested in this topic and have been for quite some time. I was reluctant to write the piece until I had enough real world evidence from training clients over the years and research, so that I could make a solid case for reliable recommendations. Splits represent individual and collective training frequencies of muscle gr

i just did a piece on specialized methods specific to sprinting here, but I figured I'd address a currently popular specialized method being promoted for general strength and power development purposes. Overcoming Isometrics is a form of isometric training that aims to create maximum tension and contraction against an immovable object. See below. I want to start off by saying that I loathe the term "Overcoming Isometric" for the simple fact that you are in no way overcoming