Density is one of the great yet underused methods of progression in training. In the 2nd Edition of Master Keys to Strength & Fitness I label it as one of the secondary methods of progression, but that is only because you must understand the primary methods of intensity, set and …
Foundational Foundation: Breath
Yesterday, I covered how important the quality and quantity of water was to your health. And by health, I mean it’s impact on every single cell and system in your body. (If you missed it, you can find it on the blog here.) Improve your water supply and you’ll reap …
Foundational Foundations
Health is on my mind a whole lot. Lately, I’ve been thinking about a big overarching framework that covers everything…as well as how to really boil it down to the simplest basics. Or as I’m calling it here the foundational foundations. As I’ve said before, when it comes to health, …
One Exercise Session Alters 9815 Molecules
New research shows that nine minutes of aerobic exercise alters a whopping 9,815 molecules in your blood. Researchers at Stanford University attempted to look at everything that changes in the body from metabolism to genes, from proteins and fats to microbiome, from immune response to hormones and more. With 36 …
I Hurt My Back…
It happened! For the first time in something like eight years I hurt my lower back. (Methinks that’s a pretty good run.) Was it from kettlebell juggling? Was it bent pressing a heavy weight? Was it doing arched back handstand pushups? None of the above. It was simply cleaning a …
Goals for Health and Pain-Free Movement
“How do you decide upon fitness goals? I’ve struggled with this my whole life. I’m not interested in lifting any specific amount of weight or anything, I just want to be healthy and pain free.” – Watts Personally, I do enjoy this stuff, so picking something challenging and going after …
Combating Inflammation to Move Well
“How do I get rid of constant inflammation and body ache? I’ve had it for years from improper lifting and sports in my youth. I can barely move these days!” – Jack Unfortunately, this is quite common. I remember talking to a friend of mine who had gotten into competitive …
Buzzing with Energy Sneak Peek
I don’t talk about this stuff nearly as much as other things, but I have some intensive training in various forms of energy work. I started doing a specific routine in my mornings and was surprised by the results. Later I shared it with Inner Circle members and they had …
Breath Holding, 2019 Nobel Prize and You
I got turned onto this from my interview with Perry Marshall (one of my favorites you can listen to here). Be warned, science ahead… Cells can sense and adapt to oxygen availability. Part of this is through the DNA that codes for the hormone erythropoietin (EPO), which in turn leads …
Power Poses and Testosterone Levels
Got this email from Lee the other day with a great question: Recently, I saw something making the claim that if you slept in the “starfish pose” (on your back, arms and legs spread) it mimicked one of “power poses proven to increase testosterone”. This was part of a sales …
Muscle Stress vs. Nervous Stress vs. Endocrine Stress
Yesterday we talked about the stress cup which workouts and all the demands of life fill. We went into how that stress cup can be made bigger or smaller. Today, I want to dive a bit deeper into the systems of the body and how these relate to training. While …
Handling Stress from Workouts and Life
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had several people asking me something along the lines of: “How do you balance stress from workouts with stress from life? How do you know when you’re going overboard?” It’s a great question, but not a simple one because there are many factors …
Vitamin to Increase Mind-Muscle Connection?
This sure was interesting… I found an article with an interview with Mark Tanropolsky, M.D., Ph.D., neurology professor at McMaster University of Ontario. The topic was how the nervous system’s impact on muscle function was regulated by certain supplements, one of which is vitamin D. If you’ve been interested in …
Dealing with Fear
“I would like to hear what you think about fear and its effects on health and wellbeing.” Marty Yes, I believe that fear affects people’s health in a big way. I’ll admit. During these trying times I’ve become afraid. (Not of the virus mind you, but of the economic impacts …
To Warmup or Not Warmup?
Like all things, whether or not you should do a warmup depends on quite a few different factors. I was just reading through a book that recommended spending 15 minutes engaging in a warmup in order to maximize performance. That may well be the case, but that fact is that …