Are you washing your brain each night?
Cerebrospinal fluid may flush toxic waste out, “cleaning” the brain, and studies have shown that garbage clearance is hugely improved during sleep.
Get your rollouts right. [video tutorial]
Don’t be one of the many people that make a mess of rollouts. They can be great when done properly. They can also wreck your low back if you do them poorly.
New Year’s Muscle Program
One thing that 2020 taught us is that your home workout game needs to be strong. You cannot simply do your gym workouts at home. Unless you have a sweet home gym.
Most people’s home workouts fail them because they are not designed to get the most out of the workouts.
The Odyssey Program.
Starting a fitness program can be a daunting task. How do you know what you are doing is the best thing for you to be doing?
If you are just starting out, you should follow a program that is designed for beginners.
Tired of not getting enough sleep?
People are always looking for new workouts, new exercises or new diets thinking that by adding in some ‘new’ thing they will be on their way to reaching their goal(s). What if I told you a common missing link is quality sleep? Most people know, on some level, that sleep is kind of a big deal. Yet, most people do not get enough quality sleep.
5 stretching workouts made easy.
Your body feels tired and mentally you have been talking yourself out of the workout all morning.
If you have been exercising for any amount of time, I am sure you can relate to this scenario. So what should you do?
The take-home message… do something. Motion is lotion to your body.
7 reasons you are training with pain - and how to fix them [FREE guide].
If your training is not lifting you up and making you feel stronger and younger with more energy then something may be off with your training.
If you are typically more beat up and notice it is harder to lift weights as you did before then it is time for you to change your approach to training.
7-Day Strength and Mobility Reboot [FREE guide].
If you are having a harder time exercising or performing your daily activities, I have good news and bad news.
The bad news is that these issues WILL NOT resolve on their own. They will just get worse if left unchecked.
The good news is that, in most case, you can not only alleviate but actually resolve the issue in question.
The strategies in the 7-Day Strength and Mobility Reboot Guide will help you move better, have less pain, and get back to doing things you thought you could no longer do.
The strategies are simple and easy to do and there is a minimal time commitment involved. To make these work, consistency is the key. Follow the plan to start feeling better.
Abs weak? Time for EBM’s Ab Week.
There are so many distractions at home and unless you have a dedicated space and are good at blocking off specific times to train, home workouts get sabotaged real easy.
To that point, make sure you have an area that is designated to workout.
Block the time on your calendar just like any other appointment.
Barring emergencies, this is your time and it is not to be interrupted.
FREE Home Workout Guide
Sometimes, getting to the gym just isn’t going to happen. Maybe there is an impromptu work function, some family-related outing or maybe a global pandemic literally shuts everything down.
No matter what the reason, being able to get good workouts in at home is an ace you want to have up your sleeve.
How to exercise when traveling.
Do you need a gym to exercise?
The short answer to that question is, no.
Going to a gym is nice because there is a large variety of equipment, lots of classes, social interaction and because misery loves company.
But, all that equipment may be sweat-stained by that dude that doesn’t know how to wipe things down. And, to be honest, you will not use most of the pieces of equipment anyway.
Sometimes people suck and having to be around them when you exercise just makes the whole experience worse.
All exercise programs MUST start with an assessment.
You are thinking about starting an exercise program. You are ready. You are motivated and you are going to dominate and accomplish all of your goals. How do you know what exercises to start with?
Is it some random drawing by throwing exercises in a hat and pulling them out? Do you hit up the internet and find the latest and greatest to follow? Do you turn to Instagram and the girl with the painted-on yoga pants or the guy-that-never-seems-to-wear-a-shirt-in-any-video?
Your poor balance is probably not a balance issue.
Many of us know someone who seems to be a little more clumsy. Maybe they trip a lot, stumble often and sometimes even fall. Maybe I am describing you.
Occasionally losing your balance or stumbling here or there is not a balance problem.
Vertigo is a true balance disorder. Issues that involve the vestibular system (which is a fascinating system) are true balance disorders. These can be triggered by head, neck and eye movements and are often associated with nausea, dizziness and true loss of balance (LOB) which often results in a fall.
Balance is a difficult thing to quantify since it involves many systems and many variables. Your balance is maintained by a dynamic interplay between three systems in the body. In the ideal world, all three systems would work harmoniously together.
Why steady-state cardio is dead.
Summary:
Prolonged cardio takes too much time and ultimately slows your metabolism making it harder to lose weight.
Steady cardio is a muscle-wasting activity.
The repetitive nature of cardio invites injuries and impaired motor control.
You cannot out train (or out cardio for that matter) your eating habits. Change them, or else.
To avoid a plateau, your cardio needs to be more varied.
Continuous aerobic work plateaus after about 8 weeks.
The calories you burn during the workout don't matter than much and calorie burning stops shortly after the exercise is done.
There are some studies cited at the end of the article that highlight the ineffectiveness of traditional cardio. It is not just my opinion.
Do this stretch for low back and shoulder pain. [video]
Low back tightness is common. Feeling some tightness in the low back is not uncommon. The reasons why the back can be tight are numerous. Most do not even involve the low back itself.
Other problems in the body (weakness, tightness and poor mechanics when moving) tend to manifest as low back pain. Sneaky sneaky.
Because of this, stretching the low back directly is often not the solution.
How to stretch your hamstrings and not your sciatic nerve [video].
Most people stretching their hamstrings are really stretching their sciatic nerve. In general, nerves do not like it when you stretch them. The hamstring runs from the bottom of your butt to the back of the knee. Therefore, bending your spine to stretch the hamstrings makes no sense.
The right way to stretch your hip flexor [video].
Most people attempt to stretch the hip flexor incorrectly by moving too far forward and arching the low back too much. If this is you, watch the video. The key is the setup.
Pulling exercises. You're doing them wrong [video].
Rows, pulldowns, pull-ups, and other movements that initiate movement through the scapula should make up a good amount of your upper body exercises in your program.
Did I just make hamstring drops harder [video]?
Set up with your feet anchored under a dumbbell rack or other solid structure that will not move. Focus on bracing the abs, staying tall throughout the motion and not bending at the hips. Perform the hamstring drop with only one leg on the way down and both legs coming back up. Try to keep the emphasis on the hamstring, not the arms and shoulders. The upper body is definitely assisting the movement, but the hamstrings should be the focus. Enjoy.