I’m Not Curing Cancer

I say that a lot. Not the most tasteful expression, and maybe inappropriate given my personal touches with the disease. Still I like the message. It reminds me that in terms of "significance to society," what I do for a living ain't too significant. Yesterday a client sent me a high-five. Something I suggested for his diet worked. "Good coaching," he said. My response? "Thanks. Even a broken...

How to Train on Vacation vs. Business Trips

Real life humans have real life issues. Or at least minor lifestyle "conundrums" that, when combined with overwhelm and anxiety (or just being really Type A) can quickly become full-fledged problems. I wrote about dieting on vacation in my last blog but wanted to expand on a side matter that comes up often: what about training, specifically business travel vs. vacations? Do the same rules apply?...

Vacation Dieting for Real Life

Ah summer. The time for vacations, beach trips, and in my world, something I call FOTTO, or Fear Of Taking Time Off. Here's how it plays out. Joe or Jane signs up for coaching, goes through the usual stages of the process, and comes out the other side leaner, stronger, and feeling much better. They're doing things they hadn't done in years and wearing things they couldn't even squeeze into back...

Why You Should Be Flexible With Your Programming

A rarely discussed reason "flexible dieting" is so popular is that it dramatically reduces stress. While declaring no food completely off limits may not be the best advice for everyone, for many it's like an 800-pound doughnut that's been suddenly lifted from their shoulders. All food was suddenly fair game. More importantly (from a practicality and sustainability perspective) it meant on the...

Old Bodybuilding Tips that Still Work Today

If character development is more your thing than non-stop explosions then you probably prefer television to what’s currently offered in theaters. And since the late 90s there has been some EXCELLENT stuff on TV. Picking an all-time favorite TV series is never easy, but gun against my head, my personal top 3 would have to be Breaking Bad, The Wire, and The Sopranos -- hardly an original list I...

The Gayest Sport Of Them All

Happy Pride! Well look at that. A seemingly straight fitness guy pandering to the LGBTQ community for likes or shares or some other meaningless online currency. How novel. But that’s not my angle. I’m a bodybuilder so I come by it honestly, as the bodybuilding and gay communities have rubbed shoulders since the days of Eugen Sandow. A family-friendly version of bodybuilding’s history starts with...

Simplicity Speaks

Saturday was cold and rainy. So I spent it watching my chubby kid terrorize the bulldogs in his walker while a retrospective about the life of Anthony Bourdain played in the background. Despite being a celebrity chef, Bourdain had grown cynical of fine dining and the explosion of pretentious foodie culture, especially Instagram-driven "food porn." He now saw food like he once did, as a "normal...