“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Oxygen Advantage: Do You Need To Control Breathing While Running?
Breathing is important for a number of reasons, but controlling how you breathe is a factor that is rarely accounted for. In a field such as fitness, where we often talk about minutia that helps in less than single digits, it can seem almost impossible to improve by double-digit percentages, but breathing through your nose and training that way to control breathing can do just that, a.k.a the Oxygen Advantage.

Revamping Functional Fitness
Give Me The Fish (GMTF): Functional fitness is the foundation of all successful athletic training plans. If you want to reach your goals, whether that is getting stronger, making your life easier, competing in Crossfit, or some other sport, you need to ensure your training plan meets three essential criteria: Incorporates movements, intensities, and capacities […]

Ultimate Lower Back Tweak Recovery In 4 Steps
Lower back tweaks happen, but they are only as bad as you allow them to be. This is not the first lower back tweak article I’ve done, and it probably won’t be the last. Unfortunately, lower back tweaks are a part of life, but if you do these 4 steps you will be ready to jump on some new adventures in no time:

Forget The Cheap Lifting Cues
Give Me The Fish (GMTF): Stop taking lifting cues from random places on the web. Cues are for correcting a specific problem that triggers you at the moment to correct a specific deficiency. Just like with all things, context matters, and applying a cue to yourself at the wrong time can end up making your […]

Hurt Or Injured: Don’t Be Weak, Know The Difference
Training is all about forward progress. Having to stop because of an injury can put you back weeks or even months. Because of this, calling yourself “injured” should not be taken lightly if you’re serious about reaching your goals. There is a big difference between being hurt or injured, and pain is not it. Injury has to do with permanent, debilitating, or physical indicators. Hurt is your body being forced to adapt to a new stimulus or minor damage that comes with the training territory. Learn the difference and prevent misdiagnosis and months of setbacks.

Big Toe Pain When Squatting
ig toe pain when squatting is often caused by the shoes you’re wearing. Feet can change over time and just because your shoes fit when you bought them, doesn’t mean they fit now. This is especially true if you are a runner. And, when you do buy new shoes, remember that toes splay more than you think underload, so you may want to look into buying a pair with a bigger toe box.

Change Your Training Routine: 180 Degrees to Results
If you are hitting plateaus, starting to feel like you are stuck in a rut during your training, or you just wrapped up a hard season, it’s time to do a 180-degree turn and change your routine. I don’t just mean switching in one exercise for another. I mean picking a new sport, trying a new skill, and forcing your body to adapt by giving it something new to adapt to. Improving yourself is a mental and physical game and both can be burnt out. Change your training routine and see the results.

Developing A Beginners Ironman Training Plan
Table of Contents Crash Coursing The IronmanFirst Step Is Verbal Commitment3 Months Till Race DayDeveloping A Beginners Ironman Training PlanIt’s Not As Bad As You ThinkPrinciple #1: Have A PlanBuilding Out The PlanDetermining VolumeBut That’s ImpossiblePrinciple #2: RecoveryRecovery Is EssentialPrinciple #3: NutritionPrinciple #4: Learn Required SkillsIronman Is Skill Based Like All Other SportsPrinciple #5: Find […]

The Keto Lifestyle And Training Hard
Over 7 years of experience with being in ketosis has led me to believe that the Keto lifestyle really does have more benefits then you can count, but it’s not the end-all-be-all for your nutrition and performance goals. Ketosis is just another energy system, use it intelligently and you will not only look good naked, but you will feel infinitely better. Use it poorly and it can have disastrous consequences. Moral of the story, don’t be a robot, use what you learn to your advantage and don’t just do what the interwebs tell you. Remember, there is no Keto Prize, except for maybe more pocket bacon.

Understand Maximal Loading: Eliminate Lower Back Pain From Squats
Contrary to popular meat head belief, pain does not always equal gain. Pain can also be a hint to take your hand off the damn stove. When working out, this manifests in poor technique. Poor technique that can be solved with the simple concept of maximal loading. Understand the importance of load sequence when lifting and you will not only increase your strength, but eliminate lower back pain from Squats and other lifts.