• Family of One

    At the time of this writing, I am a family of one. So here are my personal top 3 favorite meals. Breakfast – Eggs and Oatmeal For the eggs, I typically scramble them with a drizzle of olive oil. I never separate the egg whites from the yolks. I always eat my eggs whole because…

  • Discipline

    If you think that you need motivation to train your body, you are dead wrong. Motivation is a fleeting emotion that comes and goes. If you rely on motivation to get you to do something, you are bound to fail. What you really need is not motivation, but discipline. Discipline will get you up to…

  • Tracking Macros

    At the end of the day, most people probably do not wants to track their calories and the constitutent macronutrients (macros) that make up those calories. However, that is exactly what you must do if you found that you have plateaued in your weight loss (or muscle gain) progress and you can’t seem to figure…

  • Alcohol

    Alcohol is one of the most damaging substances one can consume when seeking improvements in body composition. Alcohol’s detrimental effect on body composition is three-fold: It is also worth mentioning that the resulting hangover from alcohol consumption will dramatically impact one’s energy levels and motivation to exercise on the subsequent day(s) following consumption.

  • Closed Chain Movements

    As discussed in a previous post, closed chain movements involve performing an exercise while the limb attached to the weight is stationary. For the upper body, a pull-up or push-up would be considered closed-chain movements because the limbs applying the force i.e. the hands, are stationary. For the lower body, a squat or deadlift would…

  • Calisthenics

    What is calisthenics? Well, it’s just a fancy word that means bodyweight-based training. Any exercise that you do using only your bodyweight can be considered calisthenics. This would include push-ups, pull-ups, crunches, and any other exercises that you would typically do without any gym equipment. The obvious benefit of calisthenics is that you can do…

  • How To Build Muscle

    To build muscle, you need to ensure that three key elements are in place: Let’s dive a little deeper into each of the above three requirements to build muscle. New muscle can only grow once we break down existing muscle tissue – this is the part of the process that most people understand; that’s why…

  • Sunlight

    As we all know, getting adequate amounts of sunlight is crucial for our health. However, how does sunlight translate into increased muscle growth and improved overall fitness? Firstly, sun exposure improves our mood and results in secretion of dopamine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters that are crucial for maintaining a sense of wellbeing. As a result,…

  • Hydration

    I cannot emphasize how important hydration is for both your health and your performance. Not adequately fueling your body to compensate for fluid lost through exercise (although you lose fluid even while at rest) will significantly reduce your output when performing resistance training. Similarly to the 1g of protein per 1lb of body weight guideline…

  • How To Lose Weight

    I covered the basics of nutrition in this post, where I already broke down the process of losing (or gaining) weight. I know I don’t need to repeat myself, but I’ll write it again: your weight gain is determined solely by your calorie intake versus your calorie expenditure. Of course, there are factors like water…