People love rules. Lift weights 4 times a week for 60 minutes and you’ll gain 2 pounds of muscle in 8 weeks. Now get to work. Sorry, but that’s not how any of this works. A huge frustration, especially among more experienced dudes, is the size versus strength conundrum. When you’re first starting out, there’s considerable overlap. Your first year you can add weight to the bar almost every...

Lean people get attention. Actually they get scrutiny. Lots of it. It’s because they’ve got something that most only dream of having – a healthy, strong, desirable body. But with great power comes great responsibility. In this case, being in shape means enduring non-stop questioning from your not-so svelte colleagues. Do you eat breakfast? Or do you fast? Do you eat carbs? What about fat? Have...

What’s the number one thing preventing people from sticking to a diet and losing fat? Is it hunger? Lack of variety? Cost? Inconvenience? Nope. It’s anxiety. From too much information. The health and fitness world is in information overload. It’s absurd  -- people even “share” utter bullshit, just so they can tear it apart and make themselves look smart. The problem, especially to newbies with...

According to the calendar it’s officially Spring. So even if there’s still snow on the ground and the Easter bunny has lost an ear to frostbite, one thing is clear: fat loss season is in full court press. But forget Spring -- have you noticed how some people seem to be constantly dieting? Month after month, even year after, they track and count and weigh (and stress). Why do so many stop making...

The health industry has entered the Age of Enlightenment. Science, reason, analysis, and skepticism are replacing gimmicks, gadgets, and asinine “5 protein shakes a day” diets. People are waking up and demanding better. Emerging from this refreshing Age of Reason has been the concept of healthy habits. The old school sledgehammer approach – “Follow this meal plan, dickhead” -- is obsolete,...

"I’ve learned more in the gym than I ever did in school.” I hate that line. So the gym taught you how to read and spell and do long division and understand the 100 or so historical references in the song We Didn't Start The Fire? Ayatollahs in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan. That’s some gym you belong to, sport. On the contrary, gyms have rarely been the epicenter of intelligence in my...

Natural bodybuilding has come a long way. Twenty years ago it was considered the bastard stepchild to “real” bodybuilding, where the guys (and girls) show up onstage either ripped but kinda small, or big but not too lean. As such, Natural competitions were considered “low end stepping stones,” receiving cursory coverage in the back of muscle magazines after ads for Hot Stuff and Zubaz pants....