Let's first talk about KB's vs DB's...

The first obvious difference is the shape- dumbbells have an even displacement of weight, while the weight in KB's is and imbalanced (just like most things you pick up in life).

The offset nature of the bell improves not just your grip strength, but holding one turns on all those stabilizer muscles to keep it centered in your hand as you move.

This is a BIG factor in how many muscles get recruited when doing any exercise...said another way: more bang for your buck.

You can do just about every dumbbell exercise with a KB, but trying to do kettlebell exercises with a DB isn't as easy.

Switching from a power building move- like a swing- into a strength based move-- like a press- is pretty seamless with a KB- and adds a whole other aspect of strength building.

 And now, KB's vs Barbells. 

 The shape of the barbell creates a stable and fixed position- two hands and equal weight distribution- which pre-determines the path you...

There are very valid reasons to do the bare minimum.

The list of reasons why you might want to go easy is long.

Here's just a few:

Not great sleep, haven’t worked out in a while, still sore from your last workout, too stressed to focus- even just a low energy day.

Not the best conditions for sure.  And if you’re feeling off, you’re putting yourself at risk or injury if you push too hard.

On those days- just commit to the warm up, or 10 minutes, or one set.  You may feel like doing more, you may not, but by doing something, you’re shifting both your mind and body to a consistent routine.

Which will always be more important than crushing your workout.

All the benefits of strength training come with doing it consistently, over a long period of time.

So challenge yourself when those days (or weeks or months) call for it, and then cut back when you need it.

Focus on the eccentric part of the move.

Eccentric training emphasizes the lowering phase of an exercise...

Like the descent of a squat, the lowering of a bicep curl, or the downward portion of a push up.

This part of an exercises creates less fatigue then the concentric phase, and working here allows you to produce greater force and strength, more muscle mass, and makes all parts of an exercise easier.

This lovely eccentric tricep pushup is on the Collaboratives program this month.

Wanna try?  We’re going down for a slow count of five.

Engage your abdominals, glutes, and push into the floor with your chin slightly tucked.

Pick your starting position-the one that will allow you to lower with control for a slow count of five.

So both knees down, alternating one knee up (really engage that glute on the extended leg), or from full plank.

Corkscrew those hands into the floor and skim your ribcage as you lower, keeping elbows in close.

Adjust your reps accordingly- and get all...

I rely HEAVILY on routines to manage my anxiety- and that includes following a predictable strength program that allows me to see progress with consistency.

We don’t talk enough about the ways in which training benefits those of us who deal with anxiety and depression.

Following a routine of movement alone promotes everything from better sleep to improved feelings of well being (and we all know what sleep deprivation does for our mental state ).

Following a training program?

Besides all the things I listed above, it’s lovely to have one less thing to think through, to have to decide what’s next.

Because every decision you have to make will add some amount of stress to your life (and all those tiny decisions ADD UP to people who deal with anxiety).

And that familiarity that comes with knowing your routine? It’s pretty damn soothing if you ask me.

The longer you stick with a program, the more dialed in you become to what’s being asked of your body, the easier it...

It's this:

How many days can you commit to?

Then adjust your expectations accordingly.

Something you’ll always hear me talk about is reps on reps.

You get good at doing the thing by doing the thing.  Repetition and consistency is the key to building strength, to being able to move with less restrictions and achiness, and to see measurable change.

And.

Real life will tell you that there will be times when you can give lots of time to your training… and then times when you’re lucky if you lift one day a week.

That’s how life goes (and thankfully, you’ve got all of it to do this fitness thing).

You won’t always be living  ‘best case scenario’, where you can train 2-3 times a week.  And get the results that consistency like that will bring you.

When you can get in a session a week (or less)?  Accept that you won’t be progressing the same- and really, truly know that that’s fine.

And just part of the...

The idea that you need to be working to a certain pain point is rooted in targeted body shaping workouts- something that has been disproved time and time again.

But the fitness industry continues to sell programs based on achieving a certain body shape anyway.

So let’s get clear on why you could feel sore after a workout:

You’re doing something new
You’ve increased your weight/reps/sets
You haven’t done that particular movement in a while
You’re overtraining

Soreness, shaking, that burning feeling- it happens.

But the goal of strength training is to ADAPT to the exercises you’re doing, not throw something new at your muscles every workout.This is, in part, the concept of Progressive Overload- a training principle with actual science behind it.

To get good at something you need to do it time and time again- and building muscle is no different.

The Kettlebell Collaborative is a progressive, intentional fitness program that not only allows you to...

Recently I’ve been thinking about all the ways I used to eat, train, coach, and well, just be.  All in the name of ‘health’.  Here’s just a few…

 -Make sure every workout is at least an 8 out of 10 on the challenge scale

 -Only do yoga if it’s power yoga

 -Keep foods out of the house that I think I should avoid

 -Get up for a workout even if I had a horrible nights sleep

 -Make sure every lunch and dinner has veggies

 -Do cardio 3-4xs week

 -Always portion my food less than my male partners

 -Try to make my body look like it did when I was 20

The not so secret secret of the fitness industry is a large percentage of fitness professionals  have eating disorders and/or body image issues. 

 And it’s absolutely true that I became a trainer as a means to ‘manage’ my own disordered eating.

 And even though it been years since I had last I binged or started...

My goal this week is to read 30 pages of my non fiction book.

(I can crush one fiction book a week or so- I read before bed nightly- but non fiction makes my brain work too hard at that hour).

Do I want to read the whole book?

Of course.

But I know that setting smaller, attainable goals- in an attempt to reach a bigger one- will not only give me confidence that I can do it, but will physically takes me one step closer.

See how that works?

There are usually a TON of other goals we could set that would make the big one a reality, but we get so focused on the end result, that the little steps get lost- and the dream becomes something that’s unattainable, that feels too out of reach.

Leaving us frustrated and disappointed.

I see this a TON in movement.

People come in with big goals of being able to do THE THING, only to get frustrated when they struggle.

They don’t focus on the things to do before THE THING.

The movements that CAN be achieved right now, that...

Being sore after a workout is a sign that you're doing something new, moving in a different way, or you've increased your weight...and that your body hasn't adapted to the movements you're doing.

The actual point of exercising?

To ADAPT TO THE MOVEMENTS YOU'RE DOING.

And if you're constantly switching up your workouts, your body is constantly being challenged by something new.

If you're being challenged with something new every workout, you won't get the opportunity to get good at the thing, to adapt.

I say all this as someone who chased soreness for years- and who taught fitness to others who also wanted the satisfaction they felt leaving a class completely spent.

And yes, I still love to be challenged.  By how heavy a weight is to move, by moving it in a challenging way, and by feeling my heart beat hard and fast.

But now, I understand how it all works.  

And my assignment has changed.

One that doesn't involve pushing myself in my workout so much that I have nothing...

To be clear, I absolutely took part in and promoted these type of workouts at the beginning of my career as a coach.

It was heavily modeled at just about every gym I worked at (and anywhere you get your fitness).

And I understand the intention- making fitness fun .

Yet the impact of these workouts- associating fitness as a means to ‘make up for’ food- is more harmful than the workouts are entertaining.

The diet industry LOVES this time of year, and they have a script the follow…

It’s starts off by warning you of the dangers of the holiday season, sells you on meal and workout plans to keep you ‘in check’, and then REALLY dials in come January.

That’s when they capitalize off off of making you feel shitty for enjoying your grandmother’s pie or taking some time off your workouts.

SOME THINGS TO REMEMBER AS YOU SEE SHIT LIKE THIS IN YOUR FEED. Candy references soon to replaced by turkey, mashed potatoes, cobblers, etc...

FITNESS IS A LONG GAME....