A strong upper back is arguably THE most important physical attribute for any strength endeavor. You can have monstrously strong legs, but without a strong back, you’ll never squat or deadlift impressive weight. And no matter how big your arms are chest are, you’ll still look like a weenie in a t-shirt if your lats …
4 Ways to Sneak More Upper Back Volume into Your Workouts Read More »
“Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” -Yogi Berra Preparing athletes for the physical side of sports pays my bills, but for those athletes, it’s often the mental side of sports that makes the difference between success and failure. When it comes to fitness, your mental approach matters just as much as …
Are These 6 Mental Crutches Hurting Your Lifting Performance? Read More »
I had a good talk with a friend of mine the other day on my drive home. My former training partner and roommate during grad school, we were both pretty darn strong, but couldn’t be more different. He was simple, I was complex. He liked repetition, I liked variety. He asked me straight up, “Do …
The other day, I sat down to write a blog and 30 minutes later had written two lousy sentences. That’s frustrating. Frustration is part of progress. I get frustrated every day. With myself, with others. But frustration isn’t bad. Frustration shows that you care. As long as you learn from your frustrations and don’t hang …
I don’t have an addictive personality, but recently, I went cold turkey. I’m not gonna lie, it was hard. I didn’t realize I had a problem. I thought I was just like everyone else. It wasn’t until I gave it up until I came face-to-face with my issue: I was addicted to my lifting belt. …
Lower-back pain is a problem for thousands of people, athletes and average Joe’s alike. That said, building a stronger lower back can be problematic, especially if you’re hurting. But to lift big weights, you need a strong lower back, right? Well, yes and no. There’s a bit of an art and a science to lower …
If you’ve exercised at any point in your life, chances are you’ve been duped by at least one phony fitness trend. In part 1 of this post, I covered four fitness trends that tricked me at one point or another. Here are four more: 1. NEGLECTING YOUR QUADS Somewhere along the line, it became cool to …
The Trend is Dead: 8 Fitness Trends that Didn’t Pan Out, Part 2 Read More »
“It’s digging time again You’re nurturing the weakest trend” – Pantera, The Great Southern Trendkill Indisputably one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time, Pantera weathered the storm through dozens of music trends. Glam rock, grunge and hip hop couldn’t sway the Texas titans from recording some of history’s most influential metal albums. Even their …
The Trend is Dead: 8 Fitness Trends that Didn’t Pan Out, Part 1 Read More »
I’ve had some bad habits over the years, but perhaps the worst was always telling everyone how busy I was. “How are you?” people would ask. “Good, but I’m SO busy,” I’d respond, my words grasping desperately for sympathy. I’m embarrassed by the way that sounds. And now that I’ve dropped that phrase from my …
5 Strategies to Crush Your Workout if You’re Crunched for Time Read More »
Between running the Cressey Sports Performance women’s powerlifting group, preparing for the 2015 Fall Seminar and one of my best friends betting married last weekend, I’ve been slacking with content this week. Here are 20 random fitness thoughts that have floated through my head recently: 1. There’s a reason big important things are called “Meat and Potatoes” …
