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 realized that I did not have a suit or sports jacket that fit me anymore. It had been years since I wore a sports jacket anywhere and the one I had was excessively tight around my upper back and shoulders. I immediately ran out to a store that specialized in suits and sports jacket thinking that I would be able to get a nice suit or jacket in no time. (more…)

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 his work, check out his site and products, they are top notch. More on that later. (more…)

“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 that means one thing to me…summer is not too far behind.  Personally, summer has always been my favorite time of the year. Like many people, I love the beach and ocean. I love to be outside when it’s warm. I love to swim, wear shorts, sleep with the windows open, etc… OK, before this starts sounding like a cheesy biography (I just re-read what I wrote…it already does,) I do have a point. Summer is the time when most people like being outside doing summer things. Wearing fewer clothes than normal and having opportunities to bear their bodies to the public. I asked this question a month or so ago and I ask it again…are you ready?   (more…)

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 fitness coach I can monitor heart rate, and breaths per minute and measure someone’s estimated anaerobic threshold, and all of the other “physiological markers” and it really doesn’t tell me much in the grand scheme of things. The majority of people out there will quit mentally way before their body gets to a point of any real danger. I have taken people to their own personal limits, only to discover that there are entire new boundaries that can be and need to be pushed through with a little more work and a lot more mental training. In fact, I have not trained many people that have come close to the real physical breaking point. Some people have suffered muscle cramps, asthma attacks, dizziness, etc…but in the end, all of these people were fine physically and in almost every case, it was other factors that caused these scenarios and not the actual training that was taking place. This is not to say that these people were not trying, or consciously gave up. Rather, these people have yet to learn how to push through the barriers that have caused them to stop. It’s a tricky problem for most. Each time you push through a new barrier, you become more resistant to “quitting” the next time out, while training at that same level. (more…)

One of my favorite exercises for building that ‘upper back’, effectively and efficiently is the Incline Dumbbell Row. (more…)

Combat to the Core

In this recent news story, Combat to the Core, Staff Sgt. Carlos Diaz discusses strengthening of our service men and women discusses a comprehensive approach to their abdominal training.

Here are a few excerpts:

“Core strength refers to abdominal and back muscles used to support the spine and keep bodies stable and balanced.” and (more…)

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 blog?  Nothing directly, but there is a point (or 3) to be made in this post. (more…)

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 there that want something that fits their own needs, needs that only women know and share. (more…)

Why are we so messed up at such a fairly young age? I recently spent some time at a birthday party for my 92-year-old grandfather and was amazed at how well he moved, and was more amazed at the things he was able to do. (more…)

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 feel sick,” “I am tired,” “it was the other guy’s fault,” “it was my coaches fault,” etc… Interestingly enough, these are pretty much the same type of excuses I hear from fitness members, clients and other people I deal with that are trying to ‘get fit.’ Excuses come out constantly and they are much like the ones I used (and most other kids) as a child. (more…)

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 trained with fury and I was destined to become as great as I could. No, I was not training for boxing, and although I was a wrestler, I did this in the summer when wrestling was over. So, why would the theme music of the movie Rocky inspire me to train as hard as I could, in my basement every night, when other kids were playing games, or watching TV? To this day, I am not sure why. I do know this however, that movie inspired me and caused me to take action. (more…)

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 showing, all the better.

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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 his car in the very last spot of the entire parking lot about as far away from the salad works as you can possibly get. The interesting part is that the parking lot was not full whatsoever, it was pretty empty. There were spots everywhere, including many in front of the Salad Works, which looked about a ¼ mile away. It seemed that this man, who was visibly overweight, CHOSE to park at the other end of the plaza, walk to the salad place, buy a healthy lunch and walk back. Maybe I read the situation wrong, but it appeared to me that his commitment was outstanding in his quest to lose weight. If he did this each day, or each time he parked somewhere, he would increase his general exercise by a ton, burn more and ultimately lose more weight. Now some would say that he should have been in that gym, on the treadmill, or lifting weights…that is real commitment. I do not agree. He was an extremely large man, who was obese. Just that walking was a full workout for him. He didn’t NEED to do it, but he chose to. I thought his commitment was obvious and pretty cool. (more…)

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 non-existent unless people count taking the trash out, the 5 minutes of sexual activity that occurs with their spouse and chasing kids around. (more…)

Remember, this is a basic list. There are plenty of other exercises that you can do too. Start with these and move up from there. (more…)

Tight, and/or underdeveloped hips will cause knee problems along the way. Low back problems usually find their roots with bad hips. Most people have tight hip flexors, weak glutes, and under developed lateral hip muscles….not to mention horrible rotation in the hip joint. All of these issues will surely cause major imbalances in the rest of the body, especially the lower extremity. (more…)

“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 what I do. I get flooded with those questions daily from everyone…family members, friends, and even total strangers.

Some of these people get it, and actually do what I tell them. They see results, feel better and look great. Most however, ignore the advice and go back to their old ways.

Sometimes I think it may be easier to tell people what not to do and maybe that will get the message across a little better. (more…)

Do these three things and you will increase your chances of losing major fat, in the quickest time possible.

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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.

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 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 any age, it really does not matter. Middle age is not a physical condition (it’s not a condition at all), rather it is a mental outlook. Either way, if you are within the ages of 35-50 you probably are feeling a bit different about your fitness than you did when you were in your twenty’s and early thirty’s.

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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 question we need to backtrack a little and look at the more traditional type of training and the one that most people out there still do; Low Intensity Cardio training. (more…)

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 done in alarming numbers. Soon enough, the “functional training” era was born. Therapists started introducing new techniques that would change the industry forever. The industry started paying attention and new rehab toys were produced that made rehabilitation not only more effective, but fun too. Balance discs, Bosu Balls, foam pads, etc… were found in every PT clinic and Athletic Training room across Northern America. Soon functional training took on a different identity and was full of activities that encouraged unstable training. (more…)

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 people’s bodies as Jay does. Whether an athlete, fitness model, average Joe, whatever…Jay can get you where you want to go better than anyone. Bottom line, Jason gets results!

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I sometimes tell this story to my athletes and clients who I think “need to hear it.”

This is not my story; this is a hand-me-down story from my high school wrestling coach which I never forgot.. He tells it better, but I will do my best to get the story, and most importantly the point across. (more…)

In this Men’s Fitness article, I write about The Bent Over Row. I explain how to achieve great form, a few different variations, and why it is such an effective exercise for upper back and full body development.