Many athletes act like running and bodybuilding are mutually exclusive. Do one, and not only is it unlikely that you do the other, but it may be downright impossible. “You’ll run away your gains,” one side will tell you. The other side will swear that a muscular man on the road is like a …
The 15 Most Important Training Terms You Need to Know
Peruse any comment threads on basically any of the articles on fitness websites, and you’ll see a spicy blend of half-truths, total mistakes, and “I don’t think that word means what you think it means” moments, all popping into existence in real time. For those of us who have worked as coaches and writers …
5 Things to Know Before Buying Resistance Bands
When choosing resistance bands, you’ll need to consider a couple of factors if you want to get the right bands for your training style and fitness goals. James Grage, band expert and creator of Undersun Fitness, explains the top five things you need to know when selecting bands. 1. Understand the Resistance Levels When …
The Most Important Training Technique to Know This Year
If you walked into my gym in Baltimore, you’d notice my clients and athletes never stop moving. It doesn’t matter if they’re bodybuilders, powerlifters, combat athletes, injury-rehab clients, or just people training for general fitness. They all keep moving. If nobody explained what these clients were doing, you’d probably get the wrong idea. You …
Pole Fitness for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know
In the hit film “Hustlers,” Jennifer Lopez plays a pole-dancing stripper in the 1980s who dazzles her big-spender audiences with a flashy display of aerial choreography. On YouTube, a behind-the-scenes video of the superstar actress-dancer mastering the pole tells a different tale, one of sore muscles and nasty bruises and practice, practice, practice. To …
What the Best Personal Trainers Know That You Don't
Women and Sleep: Everything You Need to Know
Sleeping Beauty? If only. For many women—especially those who train hard—a nice, long slumber is increasingly hard to come by, and it’s messing up their lives. “Sleep is now considered the third pillar of health and wellness, to go along with nutrition and exercise,” says Bill Fish, a certified sleep science coach and co-founder …
What Every Lifter Needs to Know About the Vertical Diet
What Female Lifters Need to Know About Strength and the Scale
Like many women, I was drawn to strength sports (powerlifting, in my case) because success had nothing to do with appearance. A big deadlift doesn’t require sub 15 percent body fat, right? There’s no subjective winning or losing based on the shape of your body, or your conditioning. You either lift more than the …
Protein And Aging: Everything You Need To Know
Your diet tends to evolve along with the number of candles on your birthday cake. For example, in your hard-training teens and early 20s, you could probably eat at Taco Bell several times a week and still remain fairly lean. That changes during your 30s and 40s. After turning 50, many people start dropping …
Protein and Pregnancy: Everything You Need to Know
Our bodies are built by proteins found in every area of the body, from the lining of cells to blood to muscle tissue. So, of course protein is a necessary component of a healthy pregnancy. But is protein powder safe during pregnancy? The idea of using supplementation during pregnancy is nothing new. In fact, …
What Lifters Need To Know About Essential Amino Acids
For regular lifters—and a whole lot of other people these days—protein is probably the most prioritized macronutrient. Gym rats were decades ahead of the curve on protein, and the reason why was never a secret: Protein forms essential components of muscle, as Dwayne Jackson, Ph.D., explains in the article “What Does Protein Actually Do …
Ask The Super Strong Guy: How Do You Know If A Program Will Be Effective?
Q: I’ve been powerlifting for three years, and I’ve seen new powerlifting programs popping up faster than pills at a Charlie Sheen party. How do I know if one will be effective for me? “If you break the law, you get thrown in jail,” my mentor, close friend, and world champion powerlifter, the late Fred […]
How Much Do You Really Know About Building Abs?
Nothing goes viral faster than a picture of some lean body with a perfectly sculpted six-pack, but do you really know what goes into creating that irresistible click-bait group of muscles? Does it come down to having the right diet? Is it all about the training? Is there some perfect combination of diet and workout […]