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
Have You Lost Your Workout Motivation? In all of my years as a personal trainer in Austin, and a gym owner as well, I’ve noticed that there are several pitfalls that people succumb to when falling off the workout wagon. It’s as if they all of a sudden lose their workout motivation, but there’s nothing
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
There’s No Reason To Have Trouble Finding Time To Workout As a personal trainer in Austin, TX for 21 years, as well as a gym owner for close to a decade, I can assure you wholeheartedly, that I have heard every excuse in the book as to why people couldn’t work out, couldn’t make their
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
Are You Wondering How Long Does it Take to get in Shape? As a personal trainer in Austin for over 20 years, I get asked a lot of fitness, nutrition, as well as, of course, exercise questions, and rather frequently. People ask me how much protein they should be consuming, how many reps or sets,
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
Don’t Hire an Impersonal Trainer! Austin personal training is a big business. So too, unfortunately, is impersonal training. There’s schools popping up all over the country that will teach you how to be an entry level trainer, sometimes in a very short amount of time. The other day, in fact, a longtime client of mine
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
How Old Should You be to Workout? I’ve been an Austin personal trainer for a good long while, and a gym owner for almost a decade. I get a lot of typical questions during the course of my days. Some interesting, such as when someone inquires if a certain approach towards an exercise will benefit
What Is A Celebrity Trainer? There are many types of personal trainers available purporting to have any number of different specialties. Likewise, there are many different coaches in all sports, which are available for hire as well. One area of specialization that I find rather unusual, however, is the celebrity trainer. I was working with
What is Proper Gym Attire? Different occasions require different dress codes. Different situations, as well. Gyms are no different than any other place in those regards. We should dress appropriately for comfort, maximum range of motion, as well as to consider the comfort of others. So what is proper gym attire? Proper gym attire will
Do you experience knee pain? As we age, it’s common for us to experience aches and pains that we didn’t feel as often as when we were in our youth. Knees can ache, shoulders can feel tight, etc. Anyone who has pursued any fitness related activity, at any level, has certainly experienced some kind of
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
Full Disclosure Knowledge is power they say, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s also a potential life saver. Imagine being with someone, in virtually any scenario, and all of a sudden they were to collapse. What would you do? What should you do? The answer depends upon a whole lot of variables, but
Don’t Let Gym Intimidation Hold You Back Anytime we start something new, it’s perfectly natural to have some sense of trepidation. When we undertake something that we’re even somewhat familiar with, in a different setting, we naturally have a propensity to feel a little ill at ease, regardless of how excited we are to start
Are Muscle Magazines Realistic? We’ve all seen the muscle magazines in the checkout line at the grocery store. Some quasi porn star looking, barely clad female standing in apparent awe at the tanned, ultra muscular, young buck who is every man’s envy, and the apparent desire of every female. There’s a bunch of these muscle
The Importance Of Visualization Great journeys may begin with a single step, but the very first step, in any journey, great or small, is to come up with the idea. The second part of the process is visualization. No matter what undertaking you decide to tackle, you must first have a visualization of the plan,
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness One of the longest standing myths in the health and fitness world, is about delayed onset muscle soreness. As an Austin personal trainer of 20 years, I’ve seen and heard my fair share of misconceptions and misnomers surrounding the issue. For starters, most people have no idea what actually causes your
Going To The Gym Today? As an Austin personal trainer for over 20 years, I can assure you that starting a fitness regimen, and going to the gym can be a lot of things to a lot of people. Some will look to reclaim lost glory from a bygone era when their biceps swelled so
How To Go About Measuring Success In The Gym Anytime you set out to accomplish something, you need to know how you are progressing. Are you lagging behind or are you making strides nicely and in a timely fashion? If I was taking a cooking class and wanted to make a lovely dinner for my
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
No More Workout Excuses Everyone tries to get out of things from time to time. Even if it’s an activity which they were at one time enthusiastic beyond belief about. There’s simply times when we don’t feel like doing something and it’s perfectly ok, for the most part, not to. Fitness and health is no
Are You Really Ready To Workout? The other day, a long time personal training client of mine said to me that his wife, whom I have known for many years, was interested in returning to the gym at some point. She was ready to workout he said, but had to get ready first. Naturally, I
Should You Be Considering Personal Training? As a longtime Austin personal trainer, I can surely tell you that there’s a lot of ways one can approach exercise. There’s a myriad of theories abounding in magazines and cyberspace from the educational and factually correct, to the misinformed and possibly injurious. Fads and theories come and go.
Should I Do Weights Or Cardio First? I’ve been an Austin personal trainer for 20 years and a gym owner for just over 8. As a gym owner, I’ve seen an enormous amount of heart and effort from members, success stories, and exuberance. Unfortunately, I also have seen my fair share of fitness mistakes, fitness
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
