I’m a big fan of EMOMs Also known as “Every Minute on the Minute” Not to be confused with “URMOM” Also known as “Jokes my 6-y/o loves to tell” I like using EMOMs for a couple of different things: Muscular Endurance Conditioning Strength Let’s dig in… Muscular Endurance In the last article, I wrote about …
I’ve written about How to Get Strong before, but here’s a quick summary. 2 Main Factors in Getting Stronger: Hypertrophy – Add more muscle mass, lift more weight. Skill Mastery – Get better at a movement, lift more weight. Obviously, if you add muscle mass you’ll probably get stronger. That shouldn’t be a surprise to …
Let’s talk about stress. Or more importantly, your body’s stress hormone: Cortisol Cortisol is basically a hormone that signals a number of processes in your body to include: * How your body mobilizes energy (Protein, Fats, Carbohydrates) * Regulating Inflammation * Regulating blood pressure * Increasing blood sugar (See bullet number 1) * Regulating your …
If the movies have taught us anything in the last decade it’s that on some level we all wish we were Navy SEALs. Kidding (kind of), but if we could all learn how to build the physical and mental capacity these warriors have I’d guess we’d all be better off. Think about it. If you …
Question: How close to failure should you train? Key Takeaways Training to failure prolonged recovery time compared to non-failure training protocols. It’s probably a good idea to leave a couple reps in the tank at the end of each workout. You can always do more tomorrow, but you can’t undo the excessive damage you did …
Question: How important is mental training to my success? Key Takeaways Mental training (Self-talk, visualization, etc) can improve your performance & help you get stronger. Mental training can also improve your overall health and has been shown to decrease stress, blood pressure, and resting heart rate. Visualizing your self performing a movement (i.e. a perfect …
Question: How much strength/muscle will I lose if I take time off training this summer? Key Takeaways Shortest possible answer: No Muscle size and strength did not decrease following a 2-week detraining (no training) period Taking an occasional break my benefit you in the long run by improving your motivation, enjoyment, and adherence to training over the …
Will I lose strength & muscle if I take time off? Read More »
Question: Can Caffeine Make You Stronger? Key Takeaways 90% of the pre-workout supplements on the market are just overpriced and silly ways to get caffeine into your system before a workout. Caffeine can improve time to exhaustion (Strength endurance) leading to you working harder, longer during each training session. These effects may be greater for …
Question: Does stretching before I lift make me weaker and more likely to get hurt? Key Takeaways Static stretching before you lift may result in a lower overall training volume Static stretching before your lift will probably not inhibit strength gains You’re probably not stretching enough & your lack of mobility is probably hindering your …
I get asked about how I came to be doing the things I am doing now in the strength & conditioning and CrossFit world and it usually ends up with me rambling on about how I was preparing to head off to OCS and found out about this thing called a kettlebell and decided I …
Instantly Improve Your Pull Ups (or just about anything else)! Read More »