Body Fat Types And How They Differ Just as with anything in health and fitness, we can make an observation or arrive at what seems to be a forgone conclusion about most whatever it is that you want to talk about. Upon scratching the surface, however, there are more often than not several layers, classes,
Why Diets Work Why diets work, whether it be a fad diet, or a medical diet, has always been intriguing to me as a long time personal trainer in Austin. As I’ve said many times in my blogs and in various essays both here on the site, as well as in various publications, there are
Wondering How Much Protein Should I Eat On Rest Days? How much protein should I eat on rest days is a long standing question that has been debated in many gyms and on many fitness forums. As a guy that’s been a personal trainer in Austin for over 20 years, as well as a gym
Is Eating Extra Protein For Weight Loss Effective? As I have documented many times over my 23 years as an Austin personal trainer, on this website, and elsewhere, is that there is an enormous amount of hype, fads, and just plain misinformation coming from all corners of the fitness world. Nutrition is an area that
Measuring Body Mass Index (BMI): A Reliable Diagnostic Tool? One of the most interesting, as well as puzzling things to me as an Austin personal trainer for over 20 years, is to hear people extol upon the virtues of formulas. In the world of health and fitness, there are many sweeping statements and generalizations concerning
Having Trouble Keeping the Weight Off? There has been a lot of recent coverage of enormous weight loss, followed by people experiencing difficulty keeping the weight off. On such television shows as The Biggest Loser, for example, this seems to be the norm rather than the exception. The premise of that show in particular, is
Asking Yourself Why Am I Fat? I had a rather amusing email land in my inbox the other day. It was from a young lady whom I have never met and she simply asked, why am I fat? Granted, I make myself readily available on such websites as quora, etc, and it’s not too hard
Soy Protein: Is It A Healthy Option? With all of the questions surrounding fitness getting “answered” on trendy websites that cater to fads, as well as by personal trainers on fitness forums who are fresh out of the certification process, one of the biggest mysteries seems to be what is the best protein? There’s any
What is Coffee? Coffee is a beverage that’s prepared by brewing the beans of the Coffea plant. The beans themselves are seeds from the berries of the plant. Originally, the Coffea plant was indigenous to Africa, but through extensive exportation, is now found growing in over 70 countries throughout the world. Coffee has 2 beans,
Wondering What is the Most Effective Way to Lose Weight? Most of the questions I field as a longtime personal trainer in Austin, TX, are well thought out questions from people who often times, have little experience in the weightlifting and/or exercise world. I’m always happy to answer their questions, provided I’m not in the
Wondering How To Get Big? It goes without saying that men and women are very different. We have any number of differences universally, and that almost always includes how we approach the gym. As an Austin personal trainer for over 20 years, I can assure you that 99.9% of the time the reason men are
Wondering How To Get A Flat Stomach? When you’ve been an Austin personal trainer as long as I have, you certainly get to meet a wide variety of people from many different backgrounds and with an equally wide variety of goals. A lot of men want to become physically larger with big muscles, usually pectorals
In all of the many years I’ve been a personal trainer in South Austin, as well as a gym owner, one of the most persistent questions asked of me is how do I lose belly fat? People ask everything from how can I get a skinnier face, to how can I increase my bench press,
Are You Wondering How Can I Lose A Lot Of Weight Quickly? One question I see asked of me online very frequently, is how can I lose a lot of weight quickly? It is a seemingly innocuous question, but the parameters of it are so large, because so much of that question is open to
Question Of The Week: How Long Does It Take To Put On Muscle? How long does it take to lose weight? How long does it take to gain weight? One of the most frequently asked questions, in fact, is how long does it take to put on muscle? Having been a personal trainer in South
Wondering How Long Does It Take To Lose Weight? Everybody wants instant gratification, no matter what it is that we’re talking about, and fitness is no exception. I often get asked how long will it take for mew to put on 25 pounds of muscle? How long will it take me to be able to
Carbohydrates Carbohydrates have long been maligned by self proclaimed fitness gurus and nutritionists. For years they’ve been misunderstood and ostracized by popular, but short lived, fad diets that perpetuated the theory that carbs will make you fat and if you want to lose weight, you must abstain from them at all costs and use protein
Wondering How Important Is Nutrition? Being a personal trainer in Austin Texas is a great job. Austin is a very active and fitness oriented City. We have many miles of hike and bike trails, many fitness centers, many lakes, and many businesses that revolve around health and fitness incorporating our beautiful climate. Austin is a
Obesity Is A Killer It’s long been known that there is a definitive connection between having too much body fat, and the subsequently heightened possibilities of getting cancer. Obesity, in fact, has become a very widespread public health concern across the world as it not only has been definitively linked to certain cancers, but to
Should You Be Gluten Free? There’s a joke going around that says if you’re gluten free, a born again Christian, and you do CrossFit, which do you talk about first? I have addressed CrossFit in a previous writing on this website, have no interest in addressing religion on this site, nor anywhere else, as that’s
Are you Asking Yourself How Many Calories Should I Eat To Lose Weight? Are you asking yourself how many calories should I eat to lose weight? A lot of people are, and unfortunately, they’re getting the wrong answers. In my essays and blogs, as well as in person with my clients over my 22 years
Asking Can I Lose Weight Without Dieting? Every day, people decide they want to get in better shape. Maybe they have an aesthetic goal. Perhaps it’s just a matter of dropping a set number of pounds they are interested in doing. Other times in rehabilitative. There’s plenty of reasons and motivations, and as an Austin
Another 10 Fitness Questions Answered! Every so often, I like to post a different type of blog here. One with 10 fitness questions answered, as opposed to a longer blog, or essay, which focuses solely on one topic. Fitness questions abound, as does bad information. Hopefully this can clarify some of the common, as well
Wondering What Is The Best Diet? There’s a sweeping statement in the fitness community that 80% of your results will come from nutrition. Not 79%, and not 81%. Just 80%, and that applies to everyone. As a longtime Austin personal trainer I can tell you with certainty, that is silly. It’s obviously going to depend
Asking How Can I Lose Weight? Sometimes the questions I get from people at my gym, or via e mail, are very simple sounding and straight forward, but if you scratch the surface a little, you realize that there’s much more going on than one would initially summarize. Since I became a personal trainer in
Want to Know How to Gain Weight? When you’ve been an Austin personal trainer for over 20 years and a gym owner for nearly a decade, you tend to get a lot of fitness questions thrown your way. The most common is how to lose weight. People see all of the fad diets and approaches.
Wondering How Much Protein Is Too Much? In the health and fitness world there is a seemingly endless amount of theories regarding which exercises are superior to others. There are endless published and vocalized opinions concerning how many reps and sets need to be performed in order to accomplish a specific goal be it weight
Is spot reduction possible? In any given field, there will be facts, theories, misconceptions, as well as some long standing mythology. The health and fitness world is no exception to this. There are a plethora of fitness myths that are very commonly believed to be true. Some, naturally, are more pervasive than others. There is
Are You Wondering What is the Best Way to Lose Weight? When you’ve been a personal trainer in Austin for over 20 years, it goes without saying that you get asked a lot of health and fitness questions. People want to know what the quickest way to accomplish their health and fitness goals are. They
Want to Know How to Lose Weight Fast? Everywhere you look, people want instant gratification. Not that it’s a bad thing necessarily, but our society has made a premium of focusing on how fast things are achieved, how quickly websites load, how fast our cars and motorcycles go, how fast our smartphones are, and so
Is Obesity Really Genetic? Is obesity the result of a lack of will power? Most people in America seem to think so despite the studies showing genetic predispositions may play a bigger role than one’s choices. Obesity and genetics is something that has a multidimensional effect on not just those who suffer from it, but
When Losing Fat, Where Does it Go? I’ve always not only welcomed questions on this blog, but encouraged them as well. As long as I’ve been a personal trainer in Austin, I’ve been asked an incredible variety of fitness questions over the years, but the one I got yesterday from my 7 year old daughter
Isolating the Abdominal Muscles? As I’ve written in many blogs and essays on my site, there is a lot of folklore and fitness mythology floating around the locker rooms of countless gyms, as well as shooting through cyberspace. Especially on the abdominal muscles. As a personal trainer in Austin, TX for over 20 years, I’ve
Tips for Avoiding Weight Gain on Vacation Many people seem to go on vacation and return with more than they left with. I’m not referring to material possessions, but rather body mass. As an Austin personal trainer for over 20 years, I have many times heard folks tell me about their upcoming vacation plans, including
Are Teens and Supplements a Bad Mix? With football season approaching, many teenage males are hitting the weight room with exceptional vigor in an effort to get bigger and stronger. Often times, in the month of August, high school football teams do what is known as 2 a days. That simply means that there are
4 Common Nutrition Myths Over the many years I’ve been a personal trainer in Austin, I’ve written many times about proper nutrition. There’s a never ending supply of misinformation and nutrition myths floating all over the internet, from YouTube, to message boards, etc. Naturally, everyone has different fitness goals, as well as different needs, but
I Can’t Lose Weight You Say? Nothing is working they say. I’m doing everything I can they say. I’m eating right, I’m exercising, and I can’t lose weight. I have bad genetics they say. I’ve been a personal trainer in Austin for over 20 years now, as well as a gym owner for 9. I
Does it Matter if it’s Fast or Slow Weight Loss? When we are trying to lose weight, there are many different approaches we can take. We can embark on a new fitness regimen. We can embrace a diet. Ideally, we would do both for the best possible results, but what about speed? Does it matter
Fitness Questions Answered This site has been a labor of love for me over the many years that I’ve been an Austin personal trainer. I update the blog every 4th day, usually, and write a lot of essays as well. In either format, I address one subject and support my views with facts, science, and
Want Some Weight Loss Tips? No matter the subject, there’s no shortage of advice from those who truly are educated in that specific field, and likewise, there is no shortage of advice from self proclaimed experts. Fitness is no exception, especially when it comes to weight loss tips. Turn on YouTube, and you’ll find a
Wondering What To Eat Before Working Out? As I’ve pointed out numerous times, there are a lot of myths and downright falsities surrounding the health and fitness world. Everything from how to measure one’s maximum heart rate, to cleanses, to supplements, and so on. One of the biggest gray areas people muddle through on their
Is Vegan Bodybuilding Possible? The health and fitness world is rife with advice on how many chicken breasts, steaks, and supplements we need to pursue bodybuilding, but we if we wanted to do something different? What if you are a vegan? Traditional bodybuilding with all the carnivorous delectables, has been well documented so coming across
Are Energy Drinks Safe? There is no shortage of products available that were designed to not only help you get through your workouts, but to enhance them as well. There’s creatine, nitric oxide supplements, ephedra, this powder, that pill, etc. One group of products that has taken the world by storm, however, are energy drinks.
Do Alcohol and Fitness Mix Well? Everyone is entitled to a little fun, and an indulgence can be a healthy thing, especially psychologically. Even hardcore weight lifters such as bodybuilders opt for a cheat meal on occasion. Alcohol and fitness has been been a subject of debate for everyone to the occasional sippers, to the
Why Would You Consume Distilled Water? There’s a lot of specialization when it comes to nutrition in the health and fitness world. As a personal trainer in Austin for 21 years, and a gym owner for nearly a decade, I have definitely seen my fair share of it. For example, there’s a lot of different
What is Proper Hydration? As I’ve written before many times, there is no shortage of mythology surrounding everything related to health and fitness. Everything from how to lift weights, to how much protein you need to ingest in order to build bigger muscles. Caloric requirements are spelled out all across the internet, and Youtube is
We All Want Instant Gratification No matter what project we set our sights on, we want to see results, and fast. Instant gratification is what we want no matter what we’re doing, seemingly. It could be anything from mowing the lawn, to building a dog house, to assembling something from a box. We all seek
Will New Year’s Resolutions Take The Weight Off? A lot of people will be flooding the gyms across the world in the next month or so as part of their new year’s resolutions. This is a documented, undeniable, and very predictable occurrence, and as an Austin personal trainer for around 20 years, I’ve seen it
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
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
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
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
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
