Full Range of Motion vs. Partial Range of Motion Training Is this even a debate? Full range of motion, FOREVER. Forget this 90-degree nonsense that defies every established principle of biomechanics, movement anatomy, neurophysiology and motor skill development that’s been producing muscle, strength and resilience results for hundreds of years. But to avoid absolutist black and white “do THIS, not THAT” context, I believe that partial range of motion deserves a more nuanced discussion surrounding the range of motion spectrum, and how best to navigate it for gains across the board. But spoiler ..read more

Here’s What You Need To Know… 1. What do you get when you combine a legendary bodybuilding exercise with a functional flare for shoulder health and performance? Introducing the best press you’re NOT doing, the Arnold Palmer Press. 2. Using a single kettlebell in the palm of your hand and press it overhead with elements of rotation and abduction out of a half kneeling position. There you have it, the perfect shoulder friendly upgrade from the traditional Arnold Press. 3. The beauty of the Arnold Palmer Press is its asymmetrical setup, increased surface area contract of the palm on the bell, com ..read more

Lat Pulldowns It’s In The NAME Claiming that Lat pulldowns don’t train the LATS is quite literally one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. Next thing you know we’ll have IG influencers claiming triceps extensions don’t train the triceps, biceps curls don’t train the biceps, abdominal crunches don’t train the abs, and calf raises don’t train the calves (unless you’re me)… This sensationalizing of the ineffectiveness of simple staple NAME SAKE exercises needs to stop. Because the reality is, biomechanics and human anatomy has NOT changed in hundreds of thousands of years. And certainly NOT in ..read more

BUT Aren’t Good Mornings Bad For Your Back? Perhaps no exercise rose to infamy more quickly than barbell good mornings when, in 1969, Bruce Lee reportedly blew out his back while performing them. He had to take a layoff from training for a long period of time thereafter, and while he did get back to training (to no one’s surprise), it was said that he battled back pain for the rest of his life. Bruce Lee aside, there’s an ongoing debate amongst fitness professionals as to where or not the barbell good morning is a “bad” exercise. However, one point that virtually everyone can agree on is that ..read more

The NEVER MISS A DAY Mentality Long term life changing RESULTS are not achieved with quick fixes, fads or hacks. They are forged through strong daily habits, consistency and hard work, FOREVER. Every single day is an opportunity to move the needle on your own HEALTH. Seeminly small simple actions taken today (and every day there after) will pave the path to altering and upgrading your life through the power of compounding interest. But that’s the OPPOSITE of what we’ve been told we must do to ultimately achieve the desired results we are after. In a mainstream media and society transfixed on Q ..read more

When it comes to feeling your best, things like clothing and food portions aren’t labeled as “one-size-fits-all”, so why should fitness be any different? In a world where fitness is now just a click of a button away on the internet….. Online Training Programs and Follow Along Workouts have been clogging up our feeds within the past year. Which could be seen as a “good” thing in terms of convenience and consistency, but also a very “bad” thing when it comes to injury and training longevity. Based on the exercise selection and lack of variation/alternatives that I’ve seen out there, one of the ..read more

Chest day or push focus? Back day or pull focus? I’ve always found language to be a fascinating thing to pay attention to. In the Pain-Free Performance Specialist Certification we talk about language in the context of empowering clients to work around pain and focus on what they can accomplish and build on instead of telling them what’s “broken” or unavailable in their training. We use screens and assessments to determine what opportunities exist to improve movement quality and capability. We use the movement pattern pyramids to choose appropriate versions of the squat, hinge, lunge, push, pu ..read more

No matter how many coaches I talk to, the same questions always comes up in conversation: how much should I be charging? There can be an automatic “it depends” response attached to that questions but it gets asked so much for a reason. Most coaches out there really have no idea how much they should be charging. Nobody (and I mean NOBODY) wants to feel like they are being paid less than they deserve. It’s a shitty feeling to think you aren’t being valued they way you truly believe you should be. For this reason, coach David Otey and I have teamed up to give you the rundown on how to navigate y ..read more

Let’s face it, most exercise programming has become an agonizing, drool inducing set up of routines anyone can write and no one wants to do. Somewhere along the lines, we forgot to make exercise FUN. We lost our ability to create more engaging workouts and routines at the fear of shattering our clients who we pre-conceived as Mr. Glass, because that’s what our textbook taught us. Finding exercises that coincide with our clients lifestyles (and ours for that sake) are wildly important. Let’s step outside the boundaries of “traditional exercise” and take a walk through the world of unconvention ..read more

The Preventable Downfall of American Health It does not take much effort to see that the health of western culture, and specifically America, has problems. The fabric of the world’s leading power is potentially torn beyond repair. The shreds are deeper than the expanding political divide, a crippling global pandemic, and carefully crafted narratives that fuel civil unrest and a revolting distaste for humans lacking identical ideology. The damage is even more devastating than gross injustice, a widening socioeconomic gap, and the failures of a misguided educational system that cares more about ..read more