Someone recently asked me a pretty common question during a personal training session last week. “Hey Alec, how do I ditch the beer gut?” It’s a really common question. There are some things that are unique to the beer gut beyond normal fat loss principles that are worth covering. You
How do we beat the afternoon slump? Taking an evidence based approach to strength and longevity means using all of the evidence. Sometimes, I write you an article based on the consensus derived from the latest and greatest research. Other times, I write based on the “clinical” evidence that comes
Do you need goals or do you need standards? Goals are important. I’m not going to sit here and say they aren’t. But many goals end up being outcome goals. Outcome goals, like “I want to lose 20lbs” or “I want to win this basketball game”, tend to be things
Are you overtrained or under recovered? Both terms have become popular buzzwords lately and they are referring to similar conditions. Let’s clarify! Whether we are talking about overtraining or under recovery, it is all about your ratio of stimulus and response. Training is stimulus that is designed to get a
Whether you are looking to get more energy, get stronger, stay healthy, lose weight, or just maintain your sanity, better sleep is vital. If you aren’t getting 7-8 hours of restful sleep per night consistently, you absolutely have to address this. Short term, you’ll feel much better, have more patience,
If your time in the gym doesn’t enhance your life outside of it, something has gone wrong. When you start your strength training journey, I can almost guarantee it won’t end there. Strength training leads to better nutrition. I wrote about this a few weeks ago regarding the hierarchy of
I’ve noticed that a LOT of things in fitness are cyclical. One year, a habit or tactic is the hot “new” thing and the next year, the pendulum has swung and now you should never do that thing. The latest trends are that calorie counting is the only scientific way to
Can a Wearable Help You Get Fit? Today, I want to talk about the technological revolution that is “wearables”. What are wearable devices? It’s any apple watch, smart watch, smart ring, gps watch, fitbit, or whoop strap type device that tracks things like steps, heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep,
Did you know there is a hierarchy of getting amazing results? It’s so easy to step over dollars to pick up pennies. Where should you focus your effort? There is a very important order of priority to your efforts. The below applies if your goals are strength, longevity, weight loss,
Fundamentals of Fat Loss Part V – Common Mistakes and Easy Fixes You have made it to the final chapter of the Fundamentals of Fat Loss! Parts I-IV I covered the basics, general nutrition for fat loss, what is/isn’t strength training, and getting plenty of protein. Today in Part