Muscle size is defined by Hypertrophy, the enlargement of muscle fibers. Increased cross-sectional area of muscle fibers means a “larger” muscle and can increase the ability to develop force. Now it gets tricky…stick with me fitness nerds. We have two main types of muscle fiber which you may have heard about, fast-twitch and slow-twitch. Hypertrophy [...]

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of chatting with Linda Andrews of Psychology Today, a large magazine publication discussing everything psychology. Our topic, ” Putting the mind in to the muscle”. It was nice to have something so important recognized in regards to improving exercise. What does that mean? Click through and read what [...]

Here are some  tips for the mothers-to-be.             Moderate exercise is considered walking 3-4 mph on treadmill. Higher intensity exercise can be performed 3-5 times a week but never on 2 consecutive days. Women who were not physically active before pregnancy should wait until the second trimester to start a program. High resistance and isometric (holds, [...]

How many reps (repetitions) should I do? I could argue that this is the question I am asked the most at the gym. Let me help you understand differences in “rep ranges” and then you can decide for yourself based on your goals. Rep-Ranges are a range of numbers that should be performed during any [...]

Usually the question I get is “do we have to do that AGAIN?” from one of my various trainees regarding performing a third set of a given exercise. Then, whether I catch them or not, they roll their eyes and assume I’m just trying to kill time! Like most exercise programs what we assign is [...]

Obviously, it depends on a bunch of factors but I’ll highlight some benefits of training certain muscles before others and let you decide from there. Proximal to distal– That is the anatomical term for saying “close to far”. By close I mean toward-the-spine or the center of your body. If you were training your upper [...]

When we perform an exercise with one arm or leg instead of using both it is call “unilateral” training. Training with one arm/leg and training with in them in tandem both have advantages. The standing bicep curl will be my example for this article. I have some choices. I can train my biceps unilaterally with [...]

My Top 5 Strength Building Exercises I will list my  top five, must do, exercises in descending order. Here we go…. #5. Military Shoulder Press– This is done when the weight is pressed overhead using our shoulders and arms. They are best done standing to work the core and stabilizing muscles and can be done [...]