Perhaps the only places you go with regularity that are charged with the sole purpose of addressing your well being are your church and the gym. In theory, a church is a temple of wellness offering community-based unity in thought and faith. And theoretically, a gym is a wellness temple of a different sorts — tasked with promoting a culture of holistic health and fitness.…
If you want to see something scary, take a look at the drivers around you next time you’re stopped at a traffic light or stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It’s a good bet plenty of those drivers will have their heads down for one simple reason — they are looking at their phones.
Indeed, distracted driving is a serious problem. Some have even called texting and driving the new drinking and driving.…
I wasn’t a great athlete growing up. Being a scrawny kid with so-so hand-eye coordination wasn’t a great combination for sports performance. By high school, most of my athletic endeavors were already finished.
But while I wasn’t blessed with prominent athletic genes, my stubborn will power was a good fit for success in other ways of movement like general fitness and martial arts.…
Benjamin Franklin famously said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” The statement resonates with many of us because we get that preparation is the first step in starting anything. In beginning a new chapter in fitness, this is most certainly the case.
But how to prepare is a different story. After all, you can have the best coach and a membership at the best gym in town, but it’s up to you to execute a training plan and get your reps in.…
I was once measured at 3.8% bodyfat in a Bod Pod. The test administrator told me he had only taken one other measurement that was lower than mine — and that person was a professional athlete.
But I wasn’t a professional athlete, just a regular Joe, fitness junkie, and martial artist. I wasn’t a competitive boxer cutting weight for a fight and I wasn’t even trying to be a certain percentage of body fat.…
One of the best things I’ve read in months was a quotation from Hall of Fame basketball player Allen Iverson. When asked why he didn’t lift weights during his storied fifteen-year career, “The Answer” answered simply, “That [stuff] was too heavy.”
While Iverson’s response is hilarious, it’s also a head-scratcher considering he was one of the most dominant players of his era.…
I’m an introvert. I don’t like fairs, carnivals, airports, or malls. I don’t particularly like loud, overcrowded, sweaty fitness classes, which is ironic considering I’ve taught thousands of them. But despite my personal preference for a low-key vibe, group fitness environments can provide the extra motivation and accountability some people need to thrive.
One thing I have learned over and over again, as both a student and a coach, is that when it comes to reaching and staying at your goals, support matters.…
Almost half of Americans make resolutions each year. Not surprisingly, the most common resolutions people make are to lose weight and go the gym more. In fact, more than 65% of Americans say they plan to exercise more in the coming year.
But while many seem willing and eager to get started on a new objective, the percent of people who are successful in achieving their resolutions is a meager 8%.…
When I first learned to ski, I was in junior high. I was a late bloomer, and I was old enough to feel the pain of being judged by my peers. Old enough to know the feeling of failure. Old enough to know that when you fall, you feel pain and you can get hurt in the process.
With that as my backdrop, I was full of apprehension on my first day of skiing.…
In my sixteen years in fitness, I have been asked one training question more than any other. “What is the best core exercise?” But that inquiry is a smokescreen for the real question people want to ask, which is “How can I have a smaller, leaner, and/or more defined midsection?”
Of course, many people asking this question already know the answer — they just don’t like it.…
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
There’s an old adage that says luck favors the prepared. Yet, in our modern culture of instant gratification, the preparation mantra doesn’t always seem to resonate. We want results and we want them now. And while discovering your true talents and passion will have a big impact on the outcome you achieve in any endeavor, preparation is what will make or break you.…
A recent study concluded that inactivity can be attributed to 5.3 million premature deaths worldwide, which is a similar number to that of smoking. Death is one of the many downsides of not moving while the upsides are too many to count.
The fact that exercise is good for you is news to no one. The benefits of exercise are so widely touted it’s a wonder why more don’t do it with regularity.…
