Facing Adversity with Wheeling Forward

While I grew up in and around the fitness industry, I entered it as an “adult” fitness professional around the same time as my close friend, Jose. Jose is an extremely humble man and a tremendous athlete, but you can find out a bit more about him here or maybe here or even here. He has an unprecedented work ethic and passion for fitness, but his desire to become better at his craft isn’t based off a want to make money or be famous… he wants to help people. He’s in it for the right reason and that is why Jose is so effective.

Feb082016

Treadmill Interval Workout for Non-Runners

For some of you, running outdoors at the moment could be a serious hazard to your life (who doesn’t love running on ice)? For some of you, it’s actually too hot to “comfortably” (when have I ever felt comfortable running) to run outdoors? And then many people simply dread the treadmill. Who wants to just run in one place at the same pace staring ahead? Not always the most fun. That’s why we have interval training to spice things up and make the time fly!

What is a treadmill interval workout, you ask? Basically, it’s intervals of different speed. And because we’re doing a beginner to intermediate session, the intervals will be a little longer. Let’s get started:

Feb052016

Our Split Week(End) in Pics

This past week, Fit went to Iowa to celebrate her Grandpa’s 90th birthday (yes, wow!) and Hungry stayed home, being a single dad.

Hungry’s Pics

Some workouts with friends

Feb022016

The Top 10 Workout Songs for February 2016

This post is brought by our friends at RunHundred.com. Get those jams pumping to staying hungry and fit!

February’s top picks play more like summer workout mix than a winter one—thanks to a wealth of pop and dance favorites. On the pop side of things, you’ll find the latest from Taylor Swift and Jason Derulo. On the dance side, you’ll find a new solo single from LMFAO’s Redfoo and Robin Schulz’s re-working of Baby Bash’s 2003 hit “Suga Suga.”

While club music might dominate the month’s proceedings, there were a couple of notable exceptions: a crossover hit from the Zac Brown Band and a collaboration between Fall Out Boy and Demi Lovato. As ever, it doesn’t matter with which track you start your workout. It only matters that you start.

Feb012016

What is a “Pull” Workout?

There is a plethora of workout types out there. I mean there is a ton. From muscle workouts to crosstraining to cardio workouts and then more types within each type! It can be exhausting and, quite frankly, intimidating to even know where to start. That’s what we’re here for! We want to offer up different kinds of workouts so that you can feel familiar with them as you decide what you want to do.

So what is a “pull” workout? Think of “pull” very literally. Think of what muscles you use when you pull on something. Typically, you’ll use your upper back (lats), your biceps, and the backs of your shoulders and traps. This provides us a great area to work out! Back, biceps, and certain parts of the shoulders! Next time you hit the gym, try a few of the exercises laid out below:

For the back…

1. Reverse lat pull-down. Try 3-4 sets of a weight that’s right for you. Do your reps in a slow, controlled manner, bringing the bar down.

Jan292016

The Ultimate Home Workout (No Equipment Necessary)

A month or so ago, we lost power to the house. There was absolutely no electricity and at 40 degrees Fahrenheit, it was one of the coldest days you’ll find in LA. The fur-babies are used to adapting from the Boulder sub-zero climate but our cold-blooded python would have had a hard time surviving without his heat lamp. As a result, I got to enjoy a challenging but rewarding family experience. Without access to really anything except water and our library of books, I stayed in and let our snake hang out on my head all day. So what did I end up doing?

While I love supporting local businesses, I think that there is a growing divide between those who are handy and those who are not. DIYers are always willing to take risks and break something in the process while the vast majority of the population will call the maintenance man to change a lightbulb. I’m stuck somewhere between the two but on this day, I decided to go all out repairman. While it was nice to get a ton of chores done and leave the house in the best shape it has ever been in, I remembered something important.

Jan262016

Learn to Coach the Best Form of Exercise

Back in August, I saw that the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) was launching a new course to become a Certified Summer Swim Coach. For those of you who are unaware, summer swim teams can be so much different from your standard club or high school teams. The competitors can often be those who face one another in other more competitive seasons. They use this format to bridge the summer gap and stay in shape while working on and developing new skills.

For many, the level of commitment and attendance is insignificant in comparison to their other teams and as a result, the coach is faced with endless new challenges. Since swimming is such a competitive sport, you’re faced with going into meets with a fraction of your team. Often, that small group are your least experienced and skilled swimmers, but you have to make due because swim meet scoring can be tremendously one-sided, and that looks bad to say the least.

Jan212016

LA Fit Expo 2016: What to Expect

As the LA Fit Expo is in just a few days and the Evolution Fitness Conference comes with it, tens of thousands of fitness enthusiasts and hundreds of fitness professionals will be walking through the doors of the convention center. The energy as high as everyone aims to meet their favorite social media celebrities, grab a picture to post online, and pick up some free shirt and supplement samples. It’s like a feeding frenzy but the positivity in the room is outstanding.

Organizations including POUND and many others take the stage to demo their newest and most challenging group training formats while vendors show off their most advanced products to date. It isn’t quite the same as IDEA, IHRSA, SCW Mania, or Perform Better, but the EFC still gives professionals the opportunity to learn from their peers and even gain some continuing education units in the process. All of this comes at reasonable rates if you can find parking.

Jan182016

Workout While You Drive!

Getting from Point A to Point B used to be a challenge of physical endurance and mental strength. If you’ve played the game The Oregon Trail, you can only imagine how fit you’d have to be in order to make it across the country. Nowadays, everyone tries to put in as little effort as possible, as we’re even moving closer to cars that drive themselves. While I’m not asking you to ford any rivers, it wouldn’t hurt to think about turning your daily commute into something a little bit more rigorous. Here are a few things to try differently:

Jan182016

Are Health and Fitness Magazines Worth Your Money?

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.