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
Getting Rid Of Muscle Soreness Isn’t So Simple One of the most commonly asked questions of me as a longtime personal trainer in Austin, is regarding getting rid of muscle soreness. Muscle soreness following a workout is otherwise known as delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, for short. When we use our muscles strenuously or
Will Yoga Make Me Stronger You Ask? Every time someone decides that they want to get in better shape, for whatever reason, be it for a sport, for weight loss, for strength, bone density, etc, the one thing about fitness that makes it unique, is that you have many options. Back many years ago, that
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
Lacrosse Balls For Wellness When you’ve been a personal trainer in Austin as long as I have, you will run across a great many imbalances within people’s physiques. Some are glaringly obvious, while others can be less so. Part of what I do as a trainer, is to do the corrective bodywork myself. I’ve done
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
Plantar Fasciitis: How to treat it As a personal trainer in Austin, TX for over 2 decades, you can rest assured that I have seen a lot of different clients with many different ailments, imbalances, and conditions. One of the most common that I’ve dealt with over the years is a what’s known as plantar
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,
10,000 Steps Is A Long Way To Walk Over my many years as an Austin personal trainer, I’ve written of the many fitness fads and trends that become the next great sensation. Everything from pole dancing classes, to CrossFit, and seemingly everything else in between that has ever been a blip on the fitness radar
The Best Way To Stretch Everyone, and I mean everyone, has some sort of imbalance or tightness in their body. It could be anything from a tight hip flexor, a knee that’s not tracking properly because of a tight quadricep muscle, a tight levator scapulae, and so on, but there’s going to be something. As
Is It True?: Is Exercising Too Much Bad For You? There’s a lot of preconceived notions in the health and fitness industry. Everything from certain protocols regarding nutrition, supplements, etc. There’s certainly no shortage of itemized workouts that are guaranteed to take you to the next level, and so on. One thing we don’t hear
What Are Some Good Exercises For Low Back Pain? As a longtime Austin personal trainer and gym owner, I’m asked many fitness questions routinely, but I’m also asked a lot of physical therapy questions, as that is something that has become a niche for my training company over the years. One such question that is
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
Asking Yourself Should I stretch Before Or After My Workout? As I’ve pointed out several times before in previous writings, there is a lot of myths and what I call science fiction strewn about the health and fitness landscape. There is no shortage of sweeping statements, wonder pills, and amazing breakthroughs, that will give you
Clearing Up Myths: Will Exercising Make Me Live Longer? An interesting question came across my proverbial desk this morning from a long standing gym member. He asked will exercising make me live longer? There’s a lot of differing opinions on this matter, and like anything in the stereotypical health and fitness world, there’s a lot
What Are Some Exercises I Can Do At Home? As an Austin personal trainer for over 20 years, and a gym owner for almost a decade, I’ve learned a thing or 2 about what people are looking for when it comes to their workouts. I’m also rather well versed in what people expect from a
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
How To Go About Finding a Personal Trainer The other day, I had an interesting conversation with a personal training client of mine, who unfortunately for me, as I very much enjoy working with her, is moving out of state. It put the shoe on the other foot, so to speak, when she asked how
Needing Workout Motivation? As I’ve noted many times in my blogs as well as essays, I get asked a lot of questions in the gym, or even amongst friends and acquaintances outside of the gym. Naturally, some are better than others, such as do you think my particular case of Ankylosing Spondylitis is something that
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
In the 20 plus years I’ve been an Austin personal trainer, I have seen many people come through my door with all kinds of postural distortions. Some are genetic traits, such as ankylosing spondylitis, while others are man made, so to speak. In our daily routines, we tend to do things that can lend themselves
Wondering What The Best Shoulder Pain Exercises Are? As a longtime Austin personal trainer, one of the more common questions I tend to get is about shoulder pain. It’s a very common affliction in the health and fitness world, as well as in greater society as well. It doesn’t take much to injure the shoulder
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
Are You Warming Up Before Working Out? Before you do any kind of physical exercise, be it cardiovascular, or the anaerobic variety, it is very important to warm up. Warming up is essential if you want to maximize the benefits of your workouts, as you’ll be loosened up, and ready to go, both physically, as
Are You Asking What Is The Best Exercise To Lose Weight? What is the best exercise to lose weight a young lady with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) asked me this afternoon at my gym. She, like others with illness and/or hormonal issues, are in a different boat entirely from those without such afflictions, but the
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
What Are The Best Hip Stretches? What are the best hip stretches? It depends whom you ask. It also depends even more who is asking me that question. The best anything isn’t a popularity contest, but it should be what is the best for you and your situation. It’s like asking me what is the
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
Wondering How To Get A Tight Butt? When you’ve been a personal trainer in Austin, or virtually anywhere, as long as I have, you tend to get a lot of questions from gym goers, clients, and just people you meet. They usually want your advice on how they can improve one or more aspects of
Alleviating Shoulder Pain Alleviating shoulder pain is a potentially very simple process, or the reality may be in your particular case, a very complex ordeal. Like everything else, it’s not just a matter of what is ailing you, but also factors such as your physical condition and medical history come into play as well. The
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
What Are Functional Training Exercises? What are the best functional training exercises? It depends upon what your specific needs are. It also depends upon your physical condition, your medical history, how much time and/or money for a personal trainer, if applicable, you are willing to spend. Functional training could be anything from an NFL linebacker
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
Alleviating Knee Pain For A Better Quality Of Life One question I get on a fairly regular basis as a longtime Austin personal trainer and gym owner is how to go about alleviating knee pain. The truth is that it can be something as simple as performing a basic quadricep stretch, or it can be
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
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
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
Do You Know What to Look for in a Personal Trainer? When you have decided it is time to get in better shape, work past an old injury or imbalance, or train for a specific sporting event, you might consider hiring a qualified personal trainer. Gyms all over the world are filled with personal trainers,
What is Frozen Shoulder Syndrome? As an Austin personal trainer for over 20 years, I’ve worked with many conditions ranging from simple orthopedics, to gastrointestinal issues such as IBS, Crohns, and so on. I also have worked extensively with lesser prevalent conditions such as Ankylosing Spondylitis, which most people outside of the field have never
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
Suffering From Postural Imbalances? Whenever I have a potential client contact me about personal training, we will always meet for a consultation first. As long as I’ve been an Austin personal trainer, this has been my protocol, and that’s been for over 20 years now. The reason for the consultation is multi fold. It allows
How Important is it to Warm Up? There are a lot of known quantities when it comes to health and fitness. For example, we know with full certainty that if you want to get healthier, you’ll have to eat. That’s pretty basic stuff that doesn’t require you to be an Austin personal trainer for over
Does Weight Lifting Produce Bulky Women? One of the main objectives of this blog, has been to educate people about health and fitness by drawing upon my experience of 21 years as a personal trainer in Austin, as well as a gym owner here for nearly a decade. I have written many posts and essays
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
Never Underestimate the Importance of Strong Core Muscles As an Austin personal trainer for over 20 years, one thing I cannot stress enough to clients is the importance of strong core muscles. The core is essential for virtually everything we do, be it gardening, working out, moving from one place to another, getting out of
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
What are Unspoken Gym Rules? I’ve been a gym owner for nearly a decade, and an Austin personal trainer for over 21 years. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go in the gym. It’s always great to see someone come in for the first time with a heartfelt determination to make some positive
The difference between fast and slow twitch muscle Fibers There’s an age old adage in gyms all across the globe that says lifting heavy weights will make you bigger and stronger, while lifting lighter weights will make you toned. In other words, if you lift lighter weights with more volume you won’t get bigger, and
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
How Should You Go About Exercising in the Heat? As I write this blog entry on exercising in the heat, it’s 107 degrees and the sun is beating down relentlessly in Austin, TX. In fact, when I woke up at 6 this morning, it was already 82 degrees and extraordinarily humid. There’s a good chance
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
Asking Yourself How Often Should I Workout With A Personal Trainer? When people contact me with an interest in doing some personal training with me, we always set up a free, no sales pitches, etc, in depth consultation. The purpose is to get a greater understanding of what the potential client is interested in achieving,
Looking for Fitness Tests? Over the many years that I’ve been an Austin personal trainer, I’ve had many people ask me if I thought they were in shape. My first response has always been to ask them, “in shape for what”? Are you going to run a marathon? Play football in the fall? Wrestle? Perhaps
What is Cupping? There’s a big to do about red spots, coupled with great curiosity at this year’s Olympics. Everyone across the globe is asking what the big red circles on Michael Phelp’s body are. Some people have speculated it must have something to do with the notoriously poor conditions at the athlete’s village. Others
What is Cardio? Cardiovascular exercise, or cardio, as it’s known by many, is a term used to describe aerobic workouts. While doing exercises aerobically, it means that we are using oxygen and our fat stores for fuel. Anaerobic workouts, such as heavy weights for a limited number of repetitions, is the exact opposite of cardio.
