In fact, no matter what your level of fitness is, the push up is one of the greatest exercises for developing serious upper body strength. It effectively trains all of the muscles involved in horizontal pressing (pecs, triceps, deltoids, etc.), works the stabilizers, and activates the entire core.

Additionally, it is one of the few horizontal pressing movements that allows the scapulas to move naturally. This is critical for function and shoulder health.  In this sense, the push up is unlike any horizontal pressing exercise  … Read More

It’s a critical mistake when people who want to lose fat decide to swap their heavy strength training for lighter high rep training.

I know the lighter high rep stuff will bring your heart rate up higher and make you sweat more, but this does NOT lead to greater fat loss. Instead, it encourages decreases of strength and lean muscle.

Don’t buy into the “metabolic conditioning circuits for fat loss” hype.  Instead, make sure you hit some heavy sets of 3-5 reps on the big compound movements.

2) Emphasize Muscle Building (Hypertrophy) Work

This one may be obvious to you. Muscle building is absolutely crucial if you want to get ripped. Your lean muscle is  … Read More

Is this love affair with Paleo due to its incredible effectiveness? Or is it just another bandwagon that so many people can’t resist jumping on? Read on to find out the truth!

For those of you who don’t know, the Paleo diet is based on the hunter/gatherer style of eating.  Put simply, this diet calls for copious amounts of meat and vegetables with a small amount of fruit.

The Paleo diet is essentially a low-carb diet that emphasizes the consumption of whole, natural, and unprocessed foods. Additionally, it requires the omission of dairy,  … Read More

What type of results? Well, squats are excellent for building muscle, gaining strength, improving function, increasing flexibility and boosting metabolic rate.

Squats recruit many major muscle groups including: quadriceps, hamstrings, low and mid back, and glutes. These muscle groups make up the majority of your body, which makes the squat a tremendous “bang for your buck” exercise.

Unfortunately, even with all of these amazing benefits, the majority of trainees still choose not to do them. Their excuses are:

1) “Squats require hard work.” Now, I personally love working hard and reaping the rewards of it. But  … Read More

In this post, I’m going to show you the very best sled techniques, and then give you some actual sled workouts. Alright, let’s get to the good stuff!

Technique 1- Forward sled push

This is an awesome technique that involves standing behind the sled and pushing it for a prescribed distance. There are a few variables that need to be considered when using this technique, depending on your goals:

1) Speed- During a forward sled push, you can either power walk or run with the sled. The decision on which speed to use will depend on the desired training effect. … Read More

Some of you would probably think that I sold out and was shamelessly pitching the latest fitness gizmo on some cheesy 2:00am infomercial.

But don’t worry guys, I didn’t sell out and I’m definitely not planning on adopting a fake English accent any time soon.

Instead, I’m going to share with you one of my favorite training tools, and better yet, show you how I use it with my clients and athletes to get amazing results. The tool I’m raving about is the drive sled.

Unlike many sleds,  … Read More

Perhaps even more alarming, the rate of decline is increasing.

This should be no surprise since the majority of the world eats crappy food, drinks too much, doesn’t exercise and walks around like a ball of stress.

Declining T levels are merely a consequence of this type of self-destructive lifestyle.

But the truth is that even a seemingly healthy lifestyle can have hidden estrogen-promoting, testosterone-squelching effects.

Recently, I had an athlete, Ben, come to me with low T symptoms: inability to make strength gains, difficulty losing fat, feeling down, and perhaps the most  … Read More

In fact, the only difference you can perceive between the two is the price, as the organic pear costs approximately 30% more than the conventional one.

That’s because growing produce conventionally requires less expensive farming methods. I understand that for a business, saving money and increasing your bottom line is certainly desirable.

But at what point does cutting costs have other detrimental effects that outweigh monetary concerns?

So before you decide which pear you should buy, let’s dig a little deeper and really compare your two options.

Here are some of  … Read More

Josh had the worst possible “body type” (skinny, fat and weak) imaginable for achieving the goals of gaining lean muscle, increasing strength and losing body fat.

Yet, against the odds, he achieved all three simultaneously.  How did he pull it off?  Well, first of all, Josh refused to give up on himself.  He was disciplined, motivated and passionate about overcoming the physical limitations that his DNA had so graciously “blessed” him with.

However, all the discipline and motivation in the world won’t do a single thing for you if you don’t have the right nutritional protocol and training program to back you up.  … Read More

It is a widely accepted fact that your genetics dictate a huge portion of your life.

Some genetic traits (eye color, height, sex, etc.) are basically set in stone (barring some Frankensteinish surgery) and should be accepted.

But there are many other genetic predispositions that, with the right plan and some determination, can be completely and dramatically altered.

For instance, someone may be predisposed to being weak and skinny. Without a doubt, this person will have a more difficult time achieving and maintaining a strong and muscular physique than someone who is genetically blessed.

Notice that I said, “more difficult” and NOT impossible. With the right plan and some hard work, one can absolutely defy his or her physique’s “genetic pull”.

In  … Read More