In the lab, we never do an experiment without first figuring out how we are going to measure and track our results. If you are trying to change your body composition, you need to identify the right tools for tracking it. There are a lot of tools that we can use to track changes in body composition and so we need to look at those that are most appropriate for […]
For those of you who have kids, you’ve probably realized by now that everyone matures at their own pace. Some seem to rocket out of the gates and then spin their wheels for a while, others are on a constant slow climb, and others seem to be woefully behind their peers. While this is all normal, it can be incredibly frustrating for the kids and hard for their parents to […]
There are a lot of things that motivate people, but only a few result in success in the long term. Finding the positive ways to motivate yourself to be successful for the long term is the most important piece of making a change for life. One of the most frustrating things for a good trainer or coach to encounter is a client or athlete who is only interested in praise […]
As a coach, my job is to teach and encourage my athletes through a lot of changes, hard workouts, higher expectations, the occasional injury, and hopefully, successful competitions. Every now and then however, I have an athlete that gets a little too comfortable with the status quo, watches too many Youtube videos or Instagram tips, or simply starts to believe their own bullshit. This is when a reality check becomes […]
We never question why we might find a thing fascinating. Or beautiful. We just do. We are drawn to it. We fantasize about it. We ascribe qualities to it that may or may not exist in reality. Most of it exists in the eye of the beholder and unless we are a gifted artist or poet, we can rarely describe exactly what it is that holds our attention so […]
Teaching kids to work hard these days involves a lot of challenges. One of the biggest challenges is getting them to keep trying when they just aren’t as fast, strong, or skilled as their peers in whatever sport they are trying to excel in. What is actually known about kids and development is that a lot of kids just show up that way. Puberty, the great equalizer, takes a lot […]
So, before we get into what we need to do to improve our fitness, let’s talk about what it actually is. Forget for a moment that all the glossy magazine images and Instagram posts don’t exist and let’s simply define fitness as what it is and how it applies to the human body. Fitness is the ability to complete a task. And so, just like that, you have to think […]
For a lot of people, their fitness goals revolve around improving body composition. I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I’ve been sitting on my couch overeating and watching bad television. However, its not all bad. After binging on a few episodes of “Hoarders”, I was inspired by my next TV binge of “My 600 lb Life”. The struggles to commit to life-changing, and often life-saving behavior serves as […]
Before becoming a mom, and a trainer, and a coach, I spent about 10 years working as a research scientist in a variety of labs. I’ve worked in both the university and commercial setting as well as both medical and environmental labs and with a number of different teachers, mentors, students, and objectives. The most wonderful thing about working in a lab as a research scientist is that regardless of […]
