Natural Outdoor Environments and Mood
by Many of us are confined to the great indoors, owing to an enduring Pandemic. Mental health concerns are undoubtedly on the rise. So I thought …
Blog
Returning to Training After a Break
Time away from the gym can be a frustrating experience, especially when forced. And as difficult as it is, returning to training after a break …
Analysis of Push-up Variations and Load
Top of the list of exercises getting butchered right now has to be push-ups. Even some long lost push-up variations have made a return to …
Bins and Needles, and Light Weights for Fat Loss
Sitting high on the pile of fitness myths that won’t die is the following: High reps burn more fat and you should train with light …
Sick and Tired: Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to the Common Cold
Did you know that if you get less than 7 hours of sleep each night, you are 2.94 times more likely to catch a common …
Rise of the Machines vs Free Weights
Today we’ll dip our toes into the rushing torrent that is comparing free weights to machines. It’s a debate that’s stood the test of time, …
Coffee Consumption and Risk of Death
The coffee industry is booming, with an endless commodity chain and coffee consumption at record highs. There isn’t a beverage on the planet more consumed …
Going Nowhere Fast
When life’s good, eating and training dialled in, most of us will have no trouble making ground on our goals. But that’s not when things usually …
NEW Science of How Sitting Maims Your Health
How does sitting affect health and how much exercise do we need to counteract the effects of inactivity? Are 10,000 steps a day really enough …
Shoulder Pain and a Cautionary Tale on the Use of MRI
Shoulder pain is extremely common and can occur for a variety of reasons. Yet many people are quick to believe that structural abnormalities are the …
Strike First and Strike Hard
Yesterday we talked about the conservation of variation concept. Continuing on, we’ll go over some quick and easy ways to avoid unnecessary variation that can …
Avoid Training Plateaus with the Right Amount of Variation
I’d like to introduce to you something that could leverage massive results for you in your training and help you avoid training plateaus along the …
Everything That Happens is Because of You
I was reminded last week of how a simple change in perspective has the power to change everything. This stark reminder came about because I …
Your Talent Needs Trauma
Word has reached camp that we’ve taken damage. I’ve a team of assassins scattered locally and abroad this past week engaged in various pockets of …
When Best To Fail
Here’s an interesting follow-up to last weeks post on training to failure. So far we’ve covered sets to fail versus proximity from failure and what …
Training To Failure Is Training To Fail
Fresh out of the lab, we have a new study comparing the effects of strength training to failure or without failure on trained participants. The aim …
Should We Train to Failure or a Relative Intensity?
Should we train to failure, or is it better to leave a couple of reps in the tank? We know we should be training hard, …
A Note From Hell
I was up early this morning, feeling motivated to get started on some overdue work, and finally do my taxes. It always feels like a …
Resting Between Sets, What Do We Know?
I’m often asked how long we should rest between sets and as always, the answer isn’t exactly black and white. Fortunately, there is a lot …
An Acceptable Form of Violence
Well-executed medicine ball throws are one of the more fluid and majestic things you’ll ever see in a gym. There is something about seeing the body move …
Shots Fired
I’m often asked about what can be done to speed up recovery. More often than not I find myself responding with… ”Recovery from what?” Because we …
The Power of Fish Oil and Strength Training
As we enter our later years, we’re entreated to the gradual decline of muscle mass, physical capacity, metabolic rate, cognitive and respiratory vigour. Strength training …
Meathead Meditations
If you have ever been one of my private training clients, we will have likely had the following exchange: You: ”How many reps to go?”Me: …
Every Corpse on Everest
”You look tired.” Said my client Sue straightfaced as they come. And you know you’re looking several shades of ruin when it’s the first thing …
Does Static Stretching Increase Flexibility and Performance?
Got a quick fitbit for you today. Reader Matt has asked me for some study soundbites showing that static stretching does not improve performance or …
The Quality of Your Relationships
When you look at the happiness, well-being and quality of life studies done, there is one common link among the people who lived a happy, fulfilling life. The …
Squats, Muscle Damage and Recovery
Some closing thoughts on Monday’s post for you where we talked about squats, muscle damage and recovery. The time curve of voluntary muscle activation recovery following …
How To Ruin Your Monday
As far as I can tell, in gyms all over the world, Monday remains the unofficial international bench press day. Where the first and freshest …
Does Stretching Between Sets Help?
Many moons ago our ancestors of the old intuitive-lifting era claimed that stretching between sets helped you grow more muscle. Previous research has suggested that …
Protein Needs For Women Who Lift
Due to popular demand, I brushed up on some recent studies on the protein needs for women who lift. While most of the research on protein …
The Brain Gains of Lifting
We’re on the fringe of mapping out the extraordinary effects that saturate the brain through exercise. We’re learning more about how we can we forge …
Your Place In the Sun
The vast majority of your training will be rather monotonous and ordinary. You’ll clock-in, do the work, call it a day and try to string …
The Great Motion Potion of Our Age
Not that we needed another reason to drink coffee, the good people of Korea have dropped this gem in our laps. Researchers set out to …
Does Foam Rolling Work, and What Does it Do?
For all the hype around foam-rolling these days, it may be surprising to know that we still don’t know for certain what’s happening when we …
Sticks, Stones and Fragility
This is one of my favourite lines from a paper that came out last year about what works in the self-management of chronic pain: ”Enablers …
It’s Official: Work-Place Burnout is a Thing
In the news, work-place burnout has just become recognised officially as a mental health concern by The World Health Organisation (WHO). It now has an …
Strength Training Could Save Your Life
We know that aerobic exercise has a wonderfully preserving influence on the heart and lungs. But how does resistance training alone stack up to helping …
Something Small and Easy, Today
It doesn’t need to be revolutionary today. It can be small and easy if you like. Bring it all back to the simple notion that you’re …
Augustus Gloop Will Not Be Harmed
Can chocolate actually be healthy for you? Well, a new study confirms that chocolate may have some surprising cardiovascular health benefits. In a recent meta-analysis …
Meal Frequency: What’s better, Three or Six Meals Per Day?
You may have heard the recommendation that a higher meal frequency or somewhere between 3 to 6 meals per day helps to maximise resting energy …
Exercise and Mental Health Benefits
The effects of exercise on mental health are finally getting some much-needed attention in the scientific community. For a long time, a growing body of …
Your Success Depends On This One Thing
Success, however you choose to define it, can only be achieved in the presence of a few critical factors. Persistence is one. Deciding to look and …