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...

Deep Thoughts On Dieting

So I’m back at it once again. Another year older. Certainly greyer. Putting myself through yet another “summer diet” despite living in a city where summer is about 6 days long. I do it for a number of reasons. I feel, move, sleep, and look better when I’m lean. Reducing bodyfat also improves many key health markers, if longevity and shit is important to you. Business wise, it helps me stay...

Ten Seconds to More Muscle

People love to dissect and analyze lifting weights. I think this is a good thing, especially from a hypertrophy or "bodybuilding" perspective. Anyone who's been at this a while will tell you there's more to building muscle (and staying healthy) than just "picking up the weights and putting them down." Like so many things in life, how you do something is just as important as what you do. And in...

What’s Making Us Fat — And What Isn’t

It's almost summer! Break out the BBQ, grill too much meat, maybe even (gasp) take your kid for ice cream. Wait, no, sorry.... You shouldn't celebrate anything -- be it a birthday or the change of seasons or any of life's blessings -- with food. And certainly never reward positive behavior with it. "After all, you're not a dog." Can we shelve this glib, condescending, diet coach bullshit? If you...