“BACK TO FORM” FITNESS

 One of my biggest peeves…when people (mostly women) tell me that they only want to “tone” and they “don’t want to build muscle.” I have news for you…toning is a misnomer. Muscles grow or muscles get smaller. You get fat, or you lose fat. It is as simple as that. “Toning” refers to building enough […]

 The fitness world is a very interesting one. Much like the normal “American” mentality, that more is always better, many people in the fitness world believe that the more pain that they feel during a training session or workout, the better it must be. I talk to people all of the time that brag about […]

 Its going to be 99 degrees today in New Jersey, with a heat index of 106. That is pretty hot. I spent 13 years in Arizona, so I am used to heat. It doesn’t really bother me at all.
I have a full load of clients today as well. I know that by 12:00 Noon it […]

 The job of a personal trainer or fitness coach is an interesting one. A full time trainer trains people all day long and watches their clients lose pounds and inches, while others get stronger and pack on muscle from adhering to your guidance and training wisdom. You write programs, trouble shoot plateaus come up with […]

 I just finished watching a segment on the Today Show about 4 simple things you can do to shed your unwanted fat. I was amazed at the advice that this “nutrition expert” told the public. It is no wonder people are fat and no wonder people struggle everyday to lose that weight.

 When you are asked to help changed people’s lives, it is a huge responsibility and one that you really need to be ready for. In this business, you will have men and women come to you asking you to make them fit. Many want to lose weight, some want to lose all of their fat […]

 It is always sad for me to watch people give up on themselves. I get excited when I see people come into the gym with new goals and aspirations about their body and overall health…motivation is at an all time high and these people start training with a purpose. After months of hard training, goals […]

I was out last night celebrating my brother’s 40th birthday with family and friends. While celebrating, I ran into a lot of people from high school. Since I moved back “home” I see people I went to high school with often and when I least expect to. Usually we catch up on old times, and […]

  I ran this blog last year in April. With summer coming up and the usual objections about weight loss coming up, I thought it is important to run it again.______________________________________________
The number one, biggest “complaint” I get from all of my weight loss clients, goes something like this:
“Keith, how come the scale has not moved […]

 
Last week I found out that I would have to attend a funeral in Tucson. I lived in Tucson for 13 very good years before I moved back to the great state of New Jersey, so going back to Tucson this time, would be a bittersweet trip for me.
After I got my tickets online, I […]

I was fortunate to travel to Los Angeles this past weekend to see a couple of Eddie Vedder concerts. (If you have never seen Eddie or Pearl Jam in concert, I highly recommend it.) I met up with my good friend Jason Ferruggia of Muscle Gaining Secrets fame. If you don’t know of Jay or […]

 
“school is out and it’s a sort of a buzz
a back then I didn’t really know what it was
but now I see what have of this
the way that people respond to summer madness
the weather is hot and girls are dressing less
and checking out the fellas to tell ‘em who’s best” 
 Spring is in the air, and […]

 How hard should you push when training? How much can the human body take before it gives out? Are you pushing too hard? Not pushing hard enough?
I am old school when it comes to training. Not all of the education in the world means a whole lot when dealing with the human spirit. As a […]

 If you want to put some real muscle on your upper back, you know the kind that looks good in a tank top, or for the women out there, in a dress or bathing suit, you need to work on “pulling” exercises more often.
One of my favorite exercises for building that ‘upper back’, effectively and […]

 
I graduated high school with Kelly Ripa. I guess that is my claim to fame. Well, not really. However, Kelly and I were in three classes together throughout our senior year. I was even her dance partner during P.E. class for a semester.
What does that fact have to do with fitness, and more so this […]

 As people get older and start to drift away from that active “athlete” they once were, many have no reason to workout. Some cannot get motivated to do what they must or need to do. Others will read a blog like this and tell me that I am out of my mind if I think […]

 If you are one of the many people out there that have a gym membership, you have without a doubt witnessed many strange things. I know I do every single time I step foot in any fitness facility. I thought I would list some of the things I have seen and continue to see.

 
I get many requests from women for products or training programs specifically tailored for the female. I have written reviews in the past on fat burning, abdominal sculpting, and strength and muscle gain. While each of those products can and have been used by women with much success, there are a lot of women out […]

 As I get older (and no, I am not THAT old) I hear more and more from friends and acquaintances how screwed up their bodies are. “I can’t turn my neck to the left”, “My back is killing me”, “I screwed up my knee, so I can’t go skiing”, “I would love to work out […]

 This past weekend, I was interviewed by Mike Roussell on Naked Nutrition Radio. NNR is a pod cast where Mike interviews some of the best fitness professionals in the business. Mike packs each pod cast with tons of great fitness, and nutrition information.

 Emotions fuel everything you do. At least that is my belief. Learning to use your emotions in a constructive way can fuel your own fire and help you do things you never thought possible before. In my own life, recognizing that I am angry or sad, or even excited about something can help me covert […]

When I was a kid playing sports, I would, like most kids, have endless excuses to why I didn’t perform well, or why I lost on a particular day. Kids want to impress their parents, coaches and friends all of the time, so the natural defense mechanism is to make up excuses. “My arm hurt,” […]

 
I found mine when I was 10 years old, I think. Every time I hear the music, I drift into a memory of me, in my basement, doing 100s of sit-ups, push-ups and shoulder raises. I would follow those up with 20 minutes of jump roping and then off to hit my speed bag. I […]

 
Who doesn’t want a six-pack? (Abs, not beer…) Maybe not all of you, some people like to just get a “flat stomach” and not six-pack, rock hard abs. Whatever you desire, we can probably agree that most people reading this want a firm, flat stomach of some sort, and if you can get some abs […]

 Are you committed?
I was pulling out of the gym where I train the other day and I see a very large, obese man walking to his car. He is carrying a bag with a salad in it from the Salad Works store, which is on the far distant side of the plaza. This man parked […]

One of the biggest problems that people have with fitness is getting started. For some it has been months and others years since they did anything remotely fitness related. Diets have become routines, filled with convenience only, and no nutrition or conscious thought into what a person eats comes into play anymore. Exercise is almost […]

 In this installment, I am going to list very simple, basic exercises that anyone can do to help keep the hips healthy. This article will briefly cover strength training for and around the hip complex. Plug these exercises into your routine to help keep strong, healthy hips. These exercises are meant to be simple and […]

 In the last article I talked about how to identify three common hip issues. Hopefully these tests helped many readers better examine their own problem areas around the hip. In this installment, I am going to give you a few “fixes” for those common hip problems and also some preventive exercises as well.

 The hip complex is one of the most important and under-trained areas on the body. With that said, it is one of the most important areas for everyone to train. Low back problems and knee problems are the biggest areas of pain and dysfunction that I have dealt with in most of my years working […]

 As I was driving back to work from my lunch break a few days ago, I noticed something about three blocks ahead of me, in the distance, in the middle of the road. As I got closer, I saw an extremely large, obese man attempting to cross the street. Naturally, I slowed down so I […]

 
“We are a product of our habits, and all of mine are bad!”- K.M.
I spend way too much time telling people what they should eat, what they should do in the gyn, and too much time telling people how they should take care of their body. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing it…after all, it’s […]

Check out the March issue of Men’s Fitness (on newsstands now) for my latest feature article. In this edition, I expose the absolute best ways to build a rock solid “core.” Turn to page 94 entitled “The Ultimate Core Workout” to read all about how to build your core without having to do 100s of […]

 
The first thing I noticed when I first received my Turbulence Training package was just how much I got for that price. It was loaded! Beyond that, and most important, was the quality of information provided in the book.

 Middle-Age-itis
 I am not turning 40…just wanted to clear that up. I am a few years off that number, but I have many friends that turn the big “4-0″ this year. I have some other friends that are turning or have recently turned 50 as well. Whether you see middle age as 40 or 50…or […]

 5 things learned from the Super Bowl

 What is H.I.I.T.??
Without getting deep into the exercise physiology of the thing, I will do a little back log into the WHAT, HOW and WHY of HIIT.
High Intensity Interval Training is just what it says it is, performing very high intensity, intervals for a short period of time. Why is it effective? To answer this […]

Unstable training came from the ‘rehab’ zone. Back in the 80’s rehab really took off. Physical therapy was becoming more popular, sports teams were hiring Certified athletic trainers, and sports medicine doctors were popping up on every corner. If you had a physical problem, you went to rehab. Therapy became first-rate and research was being […]

 There is a really bad attitude out there that has people just accepting that with age, comes pain, dysfunction and lack of real progress. I hear it all of the time…things like “At my age, I am just lucky if I maintain some of my strength.” Or “I am not looking to improve much at […]

 
Jason Ferruggia’s “MUSCLE GAINING SECRETS”
When it comes down to really understanding how to get bigger, how to get stronger, and how to get better, there is no one better-qualified in the business than Jason Ferruggia. In my 17 plus years in this field, I have never met anyone that has better practical experience in changing […]

 New Years has come and gone already. We are just about a month out and I would bet that most people have either strayed away from their resolutions, haven’t started them yet, or totally forgot that they made them. New Year’s has become a joke in the fitness world, because year in and year out […]

You are only as strong as your weakest link. Our body is connected in more ways than most know. When there is a long standing orthopedic problem somewhere in your body, chances are the problem is connected in some way to another area of your body. If your ankles or knees hurt just from walking, […]