Stop just throwing “bodybuilder foods” in a blender

"Health Washing" is a pet peeve for many health advocates. It's when food companies try to position highly processed packaged foods as "healthy" by slapping irrelevant or dubious nutritional claims on the label like "100% natural, Gluten-free, made with all-natural ingredients, etc." Sleazy practice. And I pity the fool who rationalizes crushing a dozen Oreos a day because it nets him his daily...

Is Your Driver’s License Pre-1980? Congrats! You’re Screwed. (Or Not.)

Whip out your driver's license. Is your date of birth pre-1980? Congratulations! You’re screwed. Have a good week! If you’re past the age where living in mom’s basement is socially acceptable then according to the internet you’re at a major disadvantage. At least in terms of building your body. Sure, there’s stuff tailored towards “older lifters” but it’s always so fricken lame. Don’t do barbell...

Approaching the holiday season and fitness like a sane person 🎄

Every year we hear the average person gains 2-3 pounds over the Holidays, which if ignored can obviously add up to a lot of extra chunkage. Now the solution to this is obvious: just don't do Holidays like normal folks. Bring a low calorie meal packed in Tupperware to Thanksgiving dinner. Skip any Christmas get-togethers — there's a pandemic right? Better just stay home and share your broiled...

#MotivationMonday vs Actual, Practical Solutions for Lifestyle Challenges

Monday on Facebook & IG means a bombardment of memes and captions intended to stoke the motivational fires of those on a diet and exercise plan. I appreciate the effort (and we all need a little encouragement once in a while) but I'm skeptical as to whether or not anyone with a few brain cells really gets much out of it. In my opinion folks need SOLUTIONS to their problems more than mere...

10 Things Real Men Do Daily (or… not)

Many social media influencers copy one another, which sucks when it's unhelpful or disingenuous drivel. I see "How to be a Man" lists on Twitter all the time. They're always regurgitated tropes or stereotypes that are at best superficial & irrelevant, but often are condescending & demeaning. 10 Things Real Men Do Daily 1. Don't 2. Fall3. For4. This5. Weak-ass6. Twitter-guru7....

Going “All In”

A buddy of mine is also in the fitness business and has been snake-bit lately with bad luck outside of the gym (relationships, work drama, etc). But whenever he gets too down on himself I always say the same thing: “Dude, you gotta train more.” Not that 19-inch arms will solve his relationship woes. Although I do believe #MuscleSolvesProblems, in this context the desired outcome is not the...

Injuries and Size Gains with a Bodypart Specialization Phase

Tearing my Achilles followed by six weeks of scant movement (very little training) has not been kind to my calves. Believe it or not, the current pic (the bottom) is actually flattering! The good news is after 6 weeks I'm now allowed to leave the couch to train — but upper body only. Bad news? It's still gonna be a while 'til I'm allowed to work lower body, especially my now anemic calf, except...