We are continuing our series of exercise spotlights with today’s version of a shrug! A lot of people shy away from shrugs because they think that their traps will flame up Hulk-style. In reality, building your traps gives you a strong-looking frame to compliment the rest of your shoulders, arms, and back. Remember, it’s important to continue to add different exercises to your knowledge base so that your body doesn’t get used to anything. Let’s learn about the standing plate-loaded shrug.
Do you think it’s worth buying my own TRX trainer for home? That was a question I recently received from a follower and friend. He has been constantly trying to change his workout regiment over the past 5 years to avoid plateaus. This had led to him working with different trainers and exposure to new equipment. With all those differing opinions, you start to develop questions. One of the big questions is, how much do I invest in my effort to get fit? For some, investing is an issue of different resources whether it is money, time, or space.
The American Swimming Coaches Association sent all of their coaches an email recently in an effort to try to fill some vacancies for Swim Outlet’s Fitter and Fast Tour. This project is top-notch and travels across the country to provide the highest quality clinics of swim instruction to anyone interested. It’s a huge benefit for experienced swimmers and beginners, and while it focuses on youth, coaches and whole community benefit from its presence.
We get asked every single day if this will work or that is the answer to all of their questions. People wanting to lose weight, build muscle and get stronger say that this person told me that and that person told me this but I’m not sure who to believe. Just the other night, I spent ten minutes answering some guy’s questions in a hot tub and most of that was damage control. I had to let him know that most of what he heard were nothing more than myths and misinformation.
Any teacher or instructor can tell you that it can be far more challenging and time-consuming to teach the right way to do something to someone who only knows how to do something the wrong way. To be clearer, it’s easier to make french fries from a potato instead of mashed potatoes. When I first started really taking my fitness (outside of sports and martial arts) seriously, I bought every magazine at the grocery store. If it had fitness, health, or muscle in the title, I was reading it front to back. My dream was to one day be on the cover of Men’s Health, but it isn’t anymore.
The science, logic, and technique into marketing brands always fascinates me. It can be a lot of work. But, brilliant people also make amazing decisions in which one line of text or one photo sends their brand booming. It seems like alchemy when you think you just have to pour a little bit more of this to this and then just then will you have the perfect marketing material or entrance into social media. I was given a copy of Influencer Marketing for Dummies to review by CleverGirls, and I can honestly say that it was fascinating. It provides a “backward” view of what we do here every day.
We’re all human, far from perfect and susceptible to bad decisions. Yesterday, I had one of those truly mortal moments when at the end of a relatively clean day of eating, I lost it… all. As a result, I thought I would share in a somewhat educational and somewhat comedic way, what my day of caloric consumption looked like.
AT LEAST. I feel like there’s a reading crisis out there, and I want to help it! People are choosing Facebook over a page of a nice book and it makes me sad. There’s nothing wrong with social media, we obviously use it all the time. However, we will never stop preaching moderation. Balance! Weigh one hand with a phone and another with a book! I’m not telling you what to read whether it be nonfiction, fantasy, romance, or another type of fiction! I’m just telling you to stop, drop, and read!
A few days ago we directed you to www.reviews.com for a comprehensive study of the best protein powders available in 2015, and you loved it. We received glowing reviews about that post and have had handfuls of people tell us that they ordered new protein that day based on what they read. While we had worked together with our friends at Reviews.com to bring that information your way, this time, we’ve decided to share our absolute favorite study that they’ve put together. If you have a dog or even a cat, or maybe you just know someone with a dog, you should keep reading.
If you’re the owner of a dog or cat, you’re directly responsible for their wellbeing. Their quality of life is so heavily dictated by your actions, so it’s your responsibility to take care of it better than you take care of yourself. If you’re buying the cheapest dog food at the store, you need to ask yourself if you’re doing the right thing by taking care of that animal. In all fairness, we are individuals that think the love that a good owner gives definitely makes that animal’s life much more enjoyable than being stuck in the pound, out on the street, or dead. Still, having animals live in your home doesn’t have to be a ridiculous expense. Here is the best dog food in 2015!
Our love bug food monster
If you read our recent post about NASM’s effort to enter the Group Exercise market through their strategic acquisition of AFAA, you might remember we discussed the current hierarchy of certifications in the industry. While we didn’t give you the whole picture, you saw a glimpse and got an idea of who the heavy hitters were in group exercise. One organization we didn’t mention happens to currently be one of the only two that has NCCA Accreditation for both their personal trainer and group exercise instructor courses. In fact, I’ve looked through a lot of fitness professional catalogs and they might have the most diverse of all. They are NETA. (I spend at least ten minutes a day explaining acronyms in the fitness and aquatics industries to people.)
Source: NCCA
While in Petco tonight, I was questioning my normal choice for dog food and needed assistance. Under great duress due to my indecisive nature and love for our animals, I decided to head over to a reliable website. While we might look to Amazon and Yelp for reviews or thumbs up on YouTube for that matter, we often forget that anyone can contribute to those ratings. The result is something far more subjective and far less consistency.
When I need to make a more important decision, I might head over to Cnet or review.com because I know that they are professionals, getting paid for what they are doing, and therefore to a certain degree, their lives depend on providing high quality and far more objective reviews. While I don’t know them personally, their reviews seem to be extremely in-depth and considerate of more than just, “we’ll give you some money to recommend our product.” Sadly that happens far too often, especially in the fitness and nutrition industries!
Gotta get our protein on to stay hungry and fit!
