Do You Need to Train People In-Person In Order to Write About Training People?
I’m not at the facility today. As I tap these words on my keyboard I’m sitting in my apartment at the dining room table with the cat right beside me serving as a reliable writing companion. I’m sipping on some tea. I also have some ambient “chill” music playing in the background. And I may… Read more
A Response to Anyone Who Feels Deadlifts Are Destroying Everyone’s Spine
A HUGE thank-you to Bret Contreras for his contribution to this post. You’re my boy blue! A little backstory. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away A few years ago – back in 2010 – I wrote a blog post in response to someone claiming that deadlifts were “one of the worst… Read more
An Open Letter to (New) Fitness Professionals
I know for some this may come across as nothing more than me playing the role of some ornery old man yelling at you to get off his damn lawn. And it some ways, you’re correct. I like to think, though, that after 12 years of doing what I do, logging thousands of coaching hours,… Read more
The Concentric-Only Deload
Today’s guest post comes from Dallas based personal trainer, and frequent regular/commenter on this site, Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean. He covers a topic that I feel many people recognize, but don’t necessarily understand: the deload. There are a million and one different ways to approach the deload – reduced volume, reduced axial loading, nixing… Read more
“How Much Weight Should I Use?”
Do any of you have a question or statement that, when blurted out, automatically sets off your inner Jaws theme music playlist? For guys it could be something like, “hey, wanna go see the latest Julia Roberts movie?” or worse your girlfriend comes home and says, “I know what we could do tonight instead of… Read more
Finding Your Niche as a Trainer or Coach
Not to rub it in or anything, but as I type these words I’m sitting poolside here in the Dominican Republic. I’m on vacation!!!! And while yes, I snaked away for a little bit to hop on the internet for a few minutes…….it’s all good, because Lisa is currently enjoying a cocktail…..;o) We arrived here… Read more
Beyond the Clipboard: 4 Keys to Surviving as a Trainer
A short while ago I was asked by the higher ups at BodyBuilding.com if I’d be interested in writing a piece geared towards personal trainers. In their words: “We really want to see a piece targeted toward personal trainers that teaches coaches to coach. It can be based on tips to run a successful personal… Read more