Common Workout Mistakes The other day I was asked by a magazine what I thought were some of the most common workout mistakes people make at the gym. I’ve been an Austin personal trainer for 20 years, so naturally, there was plenty to talk about. Here are a couple of the classics. Naturally, men and
Are You Performing Workout Cliches? There are things, no matter how long you work in a field, or study incessantly, that you will never be able to make sense of. One thing I have never understood during my 20 years as a personal trainer in Austin, with the exception of nutrition and supplementation, is why
Wondering How To Get Fitness Results? As an Austin personal trainer for over 20 years and a gym owner for over 8 now, I can assure you I’ve seen my share of fitness results success stories, excuses, rationalizations, triumphs, aborted goals, etc, etc. Like most people, when we set out to accomplish anything, we usually
Is Intuitive Eating Effective For Weight Loss? There is a new trend in the health and fitness world known as intuitive eating. Intuitive eating, by definition, is the practice whereupon you simply listen to your body, and satisfy your earnings, and cravings. Some people in the fitness and wellness industry had cited studies, though flawed,
Is The “Dad Bod” Real? There’s always a funny term that seems to be coined for describing people as they get older. We have the term “cougar” for an attractive older woman, etc, but the newest descriptive, seems to be the most accurate. The Dad Bod. No offense to the ladies. What exactly is a
Why Do We Experience Muscle Cramps? If you are someone who exercises, even on an occasional basis, you have more than likely experienced muscle cramps while doing so at one time or another. Cramping of the muscles has been a longtime nemesis to the casual enthusiast as well as the professional athlete. For years, it’s
Is Exercise Fun For You? A question I often field from potential clients or those just beginning their fitness journey has long been is exercise fun? This is the same as any other question in regards to personal training, or just plain working out on any level. It’s very individual. There’s no way for anyone
The Benefits of Coffee Every morning, millions upon millions of people start their day off with a cup of coffee. Even the very smell of freshly brewed pot evokes a comforting and warming feeling. Walk into any coffee shop and see for yourself if you doubt what I just wrote. Coffee naturally contains caffeine, thus
Bad Genetics Can Be Overcome We all think we have bad genetics. Not a one of us has never picked up a magazine and seen some super fit model, actor, athlete, bodybuilder, etc, and thought to ourselves, “I wonder what they do differently than I do”, and at least entertained the idea of following their
Shunning Negativity and Embracing the Power of Positive Thinking Within the realm of the fitness world, there is no shortage of advice. There are many hundreds, or even thousands of techniques which trump all the rest, according to their proponents anyway. There are many supplements that will turn you into a Greek God for only
Exercise Order: Know Which Exercises To Do First? One question I often get, is what exercise order should one do their exercises. That’s a very good question, but one that has an infinite number of answers. This matter, like any other fitness matter, exercise is a very personal thing and must be thought through and
Excuses: They Are Easier To Come By Than Results Excuses are very easy to come by, as are rationalizations, justifications, as is denial. You won’t have to search too deeply within yourself to dig up a reason why you shouldn’t do something that you have no interest in doing. That certainly can include going to
Proper Gym Techniques For YOUR Body The other day, a young man came into my gym for his usual work out. He is not a man of enormous physical stature, or strength, but rather one with a slight build and a shy personality. In fact, he will barely make eye contact when you greet him as he
YouTube Personal Trainers Are Not Real Personal Trainers A longtime personal training client of mine happens to have one of the worlds most watched YouTube channels. We have joked that we both have made a lot of money from YouTube. He, for obvious reasons, me, because people are seeing these YouTube personal trainers and supposed
Maximize Your Genetic Predisposition One interesting recent topic of discussion within the scientific, as well as the gym community, has been if some people have a predisposed advantage within a certain realm of athleticism, and furthermore, is the development of certain muscle groups within those individuals a result of the activity, or is their ability
Do Trainers Need To Be Ripped Trainers? There’s a great many misconceptions and fitness myths circulating through the gym world. There’s a seemingly endless supply of misinformation regarding nutrition, techniques, body imaging, etc. A long time personal training client of mine, who is a physician, as well as a top level, nationally ranked, swimmer, told
Got Gym Etiquette? We all know of the stereotypical gym scenario with no gym etiquette, that plays out every day in gyms all across the world, in our minds anyway. The one with the strapping brute obnoxiously hogging more equipment than several people could realistically use. The scantily clad vixen who wears too much perfume
Listening to Your Body Instead of Using Quotas As long as I’ve been an Austin personal trainer, I still scratch my head when I see how some people approach their workouts. I’m not talking about novices to fitness, but rather experienced lifters, and often times even professional athletes, including, of all things, bodybuilders! I’m not
The Importance of Proper Form There’s a lot of different ways to approach fitness, just as there are a lot of different motivating factors to keep one engaged throughout their fitness journey. There are many possibilities you can explore, and there are many different goals, but no matter what they are, you must employ proper
Having Heart At The Gym Who hasn’t gone to the gym, any gym, and saw someone whose physique or strength, they admired? No one. It doesn’t matter if you are a novice or a professional bodybuilder, you’ve experienced it many times. All that anyone respects is having heart at the gym. It’s simply human nature.
The Skinny On How To Put On Muscle It seems you can’t help but see articles and propaganda at virtually every turn on how to lose weight or how to put on muscle. Standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, just have a look around and you’ll see all the magic cures promoted
Emotional Eating There are a plethora of pitfalls one could succumb to while on their journey to fitness and better health. It could be skipping some workouts, to allowing to many indulgences to sneak into your diet. Often times, people see some progress and use that as a rationalization that it’s now ok to become
How Does One Go About Getting Stronger? A very common goal amongst trainees is getting stronger. The client may want to become stronger at a certain lift, such as the bench press, for example, or perhaps they want to strengthen a certain region that has atrophied, or perhaps we need to strengthen an area that
Gym Victory Success within the realm of fitness can be measured any number of ways. We can make a lift we were previously unable to accomplish and that would be a gym victory. We can gain or lose weight, tighten up our abs, develop bigger biceps, fix hip imbalances and rid ourselves of back pain,
Are You Wondering How Often Should I Workout? Lately, per request, I’ve been writing a lot of my blog entries in an effort to debunk a few of the widespread, and long lasting fitness myths. In one of my latest essays, I did the same with the myth of crunches will produce flat abs. One
Genetics Genetics. How many times have you seen someone and wished you looked like they did at that moment? How many times have you been at the gym and saw someone lifting a certain amount of weight, seemingly effortlessly, while their muscles flexed and bulged, and you thought to yourself that it’d be great to
Ever Hear Of Muscles Turning To Fat? One pervasive myth is that of muscles turning to fat. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone talking about an aged bodybuilder who has softened with age, so to speak, and that all there muscle has turned to fat. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a great example
Detox Cleanses and Diets One thing I used to hear an awful lot of was the supposed benefits of doing a detox cleanses. Thankfully, either common sense or science is prevailing and you hear about this fad less and less. For those unfamiliar with the concept, detox cleanse are a process, often marketed by a
Maximum Heart Rate As I wrote last time, I will be addressing several prominent and oft believed fitness myths that permeate the health and fitness world. When people come to me for a personal training consultation, they often tell me what their maximum heart rate is and how they have to be careful not to
Debunking Fitness Myths There’s a number of persistent and often times, funny fitness myths circulating throughout America’s gyms and online fitness forums. Since I’ve been doing personal training in Austin for as long as I have, you can imagine that I’ve been confronted by believers and preachers of these reality spinoffs any number of times.
Are There Health And Fitness Miracles? How many times have you flipped through a magazine and seen the latest and greatest miracle weight loss supplement or methodology? It’s another one of those health and fitness miracles I suppose. Remember all the late night infomercials that promised unparalleled weight loss and muscle tone and it can
Ready To Get Started? I’ve been an Austin personal trainer for 20 years now and I’ve had a lot of people come to my gym, the Austin Fitness Center, and tell me they were ready to make a life change and get started at finally lose the weight. They said that now was the time
Unless You’re Sick, Don’t Skip Your Workout! Everybody runs late on occasion. Some people obviously more so than others. If you have an appointment with your personal trainer and are late, come in anyway. If you blow it off with the mindset that it’ll only be a partial workout and therefor not worthwhile, you’ll be
Elementary School Wellness Day Was Awesome! Today was a fun day for me. My kid’s elementary school had what they called Wellness Day today and they had asked me to be a presenter as I’m a local gym owner and have been an Austin personal trainer for nearly 20 years. I’m a rather known quantity
From seemingly the beginning of time, when we want to know how we measure up against a fellow man in the gym, we inquire or seek to discover subversively, how much they can bench press. For some reason this is the holy grail of all movements, exercises, and lifts in the gym. Why that is,
There’s many reasons why one would hire a personal trainer. Expertise in nutrition, exercise, physical therapy, physiology, accountability, but motivation? Unfortunately, that’s one thing that will always fall short. That’s something that has to come from inside of you, the client. As a personal trainer in Austin for 19 years, I’ve worked with a vast
Stick With It and Don’t Give Up On Your Workout! As an Austin personal trainer for almost 20 years and as a longtime gym owner, I’ve certainly seen my share of people come and go. Most folks start off with the greatest of ambitions and a reinvigorated sense of purpose. All too often, however, these
Do I Have To Lift Heavy Weights to Build Muscle? A question I get very often as a 20 year veteran Austin personal trainer is, “Do I need to lift heavy weights in order to gain muscle”? The answer is yes and no. We have 2 types of skeletal muscle. Fast and slow twitch. Each
Are You Wondering Exactly What Is Personal Training? What is personal training? To me, it’s just that. A personal trainer is not a hired friend, a therapist, etc. My job is to help you achieve your goals using a multifaceted approach that includes nutrition, exercise, and identifying and repairing weaknesses and imbalances, otherwise known as
Are You Lacking Motivation For The Gym? I’ve been an Austin personal trainer for 20 years now, and there are plenty of misconceptions and myths surrounding my profession. I’ve hear a great many of them over the years, in fact. Some stand out as ludicrous, such as the one time when I was asked to
Is Over Training Possible? As a 20 year veteran Austin personal trainer, you can be sure that I have seen my share of different people as well as different needs, in different scenarios, etc. I also have been asked a multitude of questions regarding nutrition, weight lifting, physical therapy, weight loss, and so on. Women
Are There Alternatives To Squats? As I mentioned in my previous post, squats are a great leg exercise for a multitude of reasons. I also mentioned that not everyone is capable of doing them correctly and thus would be tempting fate to try it. Thankfully, there are alternatives to squats. There are alternatives such as
Ready To learn How To Squat Properly? There are many leg exercises one can do in order to strengthen, stretch, and add muscle to the legs. There’s an equally great number of machines and contraptions available to aid you in your mission of leg improvement. The squat, is not only a great movement, for those
Over the many years I’ve been a personal trainer in Austin, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked how do I get bigger arms? There are several ways to go about getting bigger biceps, but you have to remember a few things. Firstly, if your arm is to grow an inch, your
The Bench Press If you go to virtually any gym in the world, it’s almost an absolute guarantee that you will find a bench press. The bench press has been a staple of the fitness world since it’s inception, as well as a barometer of how accomplished a gym rat you truly are. After all,
The Many Benefits of the Bench Press As a longtime Austin personal trainer and gym owner, I can assure you, that in the fitness world, there are a handful of exercises that are considered benchmarks for strength, as well as essential to perform if you stand any chance at all of becoming bigger and stronger.
