A high school friend who chose a more conventional career (finance) loves to take good-natured jabs at what I do for living. “Dude, writing training programs? You might as well say you work in the toy department.” In a way, he’s right. I love writing training plans – the problem solving, the trouble shooting, and then progressing. I could do it 20 hours a day and it would still never feel like...

There’s an old expression: Fat loss is simple. Just not easy. Co-coach Scott Tousignant and I don’t think truer words have ever been spoken. Fat loss boils down to a handful of physiological factors, with “maintaining a calorie deficit” being the big kahuna. Add to that “regular exercise including resistance training” and “eat sufficient protein” and you’ve moved most of the big rocks. But when...

My old client Doug (not commenting on your age haha) is one of those folks that rarely need me to check on their food choices.  Because he's the right kind of "foodie." Now the word "foodie" became popular a few years ago with the explosion of The Food Network and many others like it. Suddenly everyone was "passionate" about kale and quinoa and the perils of perfecting risotto while spending...

You poor people have all heard me blather on about getting into a pattern when it comes to eating, i.e., trying to eat the same stuff every day. Yeah, I know it's boring. That's why it works! The body thrives in a pattern, and consistency and discipline are closely linked. Just ask any bodybuilder whose ever gotten super lean -- there ain't a lot of winging it. Not to mention it's much easier...

Few things are more frustrating than an injury, especially one that prevents working out altogether. They're also basically inevitable. While powerlifters and contact sports athletes are at a much greater risk of suffering a big "career ender" versus someone who just trains to look good, at some point even recreational lifters will find themselves hobbled by a tweaked lower back, stiff neck,...

Many moons ago I worked for a bodybuilding/muscle magazine. One of my jobs was to spot content that would resonate with their "base," which was largely 18-35 year-old men. I quickly learned that the overwhelming majority of readers felt they were "advanced" lifters, or at least high-level intermediates. Very few would self-select the "beginner" box. As such, basic training or nutrition programs...

Back in 1996 I remember telling a bodybuilding mentor about this new diet I was following. You eat zero carbs and lots of fat and trick your body into surrendering bodyfat while sparing muscle. But my mentor wasn't too impressed. "Oh yeah, THAT diet. Again." I protested. No this diet is NEW and totally cutting edge. You get to carb up on weekends, do "tension" and "depletion" workouts, take...