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Exercise We Love: The Kettlebell Goblet Clean

Most of the time, we recommend practicing safe sets. Slow the exercise down and control the reps. Leave your ego at the door if you want to train pain-free for years.

But, let’s be honest. It feels good to be aggressive in the weight room from time to time, and moving weight fast can be therapy.

This type of training is good for your health too. It can help you build more muscle by targeting your fast-twitch fibers. And training with speed builds power, something that becomes more important as we age.

The problem is that traditional full-body power moves like barbell cleans carry an increased chance of injury. Most people don’t have the requisite mobility in the upper body or hours of in-person coaching with a personal trainer to learn the finer points of this technique-centric lift.

However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include “power” movements in your workout.

Power training just requires that you move (your bodyweight or a weight) explosively. And you don’t need a barbell to do that.

Enter the Kettlebell Goblet Clean

Photo Credit: Experience Life

Unlike barbell cleans (or even the kettlebell clean), a kettlebell goblet clean helps you train explosive leg drive with minimal upper body movement.

With most clean exercises, you have to catch the bell or bar in what’s called the rack position (resting on your arm and upper chest). This is the same position as barbell front squats – only you need to catch there during the lift.

The kettlebell goblet clean doesn’t require finishing in the rack. Whenever you hear the term “goblet,” it means you’ll hold the KB with both hands in front of your chest.

Here’s what makes this move so good – taking the kettlebell from the floor to the goblet position only requires relaxing your grip. That’s it. You won’t need to bang up your wrists and forearms for weeks while you learn it.

This makes it an ideal move for beginners. You’ll be on your way to mastering the lift your first day. And you’ll learn how to safely get a heavy bell into the starting position for goblet squats without tweaking your lower back. Win-win.

Here’s How To Do It

Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width. The kettlebell should be centered between your legs.

Unlock your knees and push your hips back until you can grip the kettlebell handle.

Driving through your legs and butt, stand up quickly. Keep your arms close to the body. The kettlebell will travel straight up like it’s on an elevator.

If you provide the pop with your legs, the bell should be “floating” now and feel weightless. As it reaches your chest, relax your grip and rotate your elbows around the kettlebell. Your hands will slide slightly down the handle.

Relax your grip again to return to the start position by reversing the steps.

Most of the time we want to train power at the beginning of the workout. We’re fresh and technique is likely to be sharper. That’s why 50 reps of box jumps (a power exercise) likely isn’t a good idea at the end of your workout.

And that’s often where I’ll put kettlebell goblet cleans in client’s workouts. But, once they’ve mastered the lift, this move shines as part of a complex or circuit.

Try this workout

Do 5 reps of kettlebell goblet cleans, 5 goblet squats, and then 5 kettlebell swings without setting the bell down.

Rest 1 minute.

Complete 5-10 rounds for a quick, do-anywhere lower body blast.

READ MORE

5-Minute Finishers: How To Speed Progress

Tension Lifting Technique (Make Every Exercise More Effective)

A Better Way To Perform Circuit Training

  The post Exercise We Love: The Kettlebell Goblet Clean appeared first on Born Fitness.

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The Best Protein Pancake Recipe EVER: Bacon & Date Protein Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup gluten-free rolled oats

1 tbsp. chia seeds

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. Stevia or raw unfiltered honey

½ scoop protein powder**

¼ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup egg whites

2 whole eggs, pasture-raised

¼ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk

2 tbsp. maple syrup, grade B

4 slices turkey bacon, uncured & nitrate-free  

5 pitted dates, chopped  

1 tbsp. grass-fed butter

**We used Athletic Greens grass-fed whey isolate, vanilla

Directions

In a small saute pan on medium-high heat, cook bacon until crispy. Removed bacon from pan, crumble into small bits and set aside.

Add the dry ingredients—oats, chia, baking powder, Stevia, protein powder and cinnamon—in a blender or food processor. Pulse until smooth. Set aside

Whisk the eggs, egg whites & milk in a medium mixing bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

Take a paper towel to wipe the pan clean, then add 1 tsp. butter to grease. On medium-heat heat, add ¼ pancake batter. Add ¼ chopped dates and crumbled bacon on top. When batter begins to bubble, it’s ready to flip.

Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with maple syrup and grass-fed butter. To cut down on the sugar, mix the maple syrup with equal parts water and 1 tbsp. butter. Heat in microwave for 15 seconds, stir and pour over pancakes. Enjoy immediately.

Nutritional Information & Macros

Dietary Information: Gluten Free

Macronutrients

387 calories

8.75g fat

40g carbs

37.2g protein

READ MORE: 

Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Powder Pancakes

What is the Best Protein Powder? 

Good Protein Bars, Decoded

  The post The Best Protein Pancake Recipe EVER: Bacon & Date Protein Pancakes appeared first on Born Fitness.

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The Berry Nutty Yogurt Parfait

Ingredients

¼ cup low-sugar granola*

2 tbsp. crushed walnuts

⅔ cup plain or vanilla Greek or Skyr yogurt**

½ cup mixed berries

1 tsp. raw, unfiltered honey

*We used Purely Elizabeth’s Original Grain Gluten-Free Granola

**We used Siggi’s plain 4% yogurt.

Directions

In a mason jar or serving bowl, add 1 tbsp. of granola & ½ tsp. of honey.

Top with ⅓ cup yogurt.

Then sprinkle 1 tbsp. of walnuts, ¼ cup berries and 1 tbsp. Granola.

Layer once more with yogurt, walnuts, berries and granola, then drizzle with a little honey.

Nutritional Information & Macros

Dietary Information: Vegetarian, Gluten free (if gluten-free granola is used), Contains dairy & nuts

Macros per serving

620 calories

42g fat

43g carbs

27g protein

READ MORE: 

Cinnamon Apple Yogurt Parfait with Protein Granola

High Protein Lemon Berry Chia Yogurt 

Yogurt and Your Microbiome: The Surprising Ways Gut Health Affects Your Life

  The post The Berry Nutty Yogurt Parfait appeared first on Born Fitness.

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The Right Way to Squat (And Solve The “Butt Wink” Issue)

Some things you can’t debate, such as whether it’s a crime to hide a raisin cookie in a batch of chocolate chips. Other acts are a little less certain. And, when it comes to exercise movement, there’s no shortage of disagreement about what movements are safe and which should be limited. 

Squats are one of the most controversial exercises. Some people suggest they are the best movement (period), whereas others – most notably, respected coach Mike Boyle – suggest they are oftentimes abused and unnecessary. 

At Born Fitness, we work with our online coaching clients to determine what movement is best for them. We love squats, but not everyone needs to do them. Blanket recommendations are dangerous. One person’s path to better performance can be another person’s path to injury.

And, if you do, it certainly doesn’t have to be on two legs (you can do 1-leg variations) or with a barbell on your back. 

Let’s assume you want to squat (remember, it’s still a primary movement). All you need to do is figure out how deep you should go, and what is dangerous for your body. 

Many people will suggest any type of “butt wink” – a rounding of your lower back – is dangerous. 

It’s not quite that simple, but we can offer an easy way to help you figure out what’s best for your body. 

Is The Butt Wink Bad?

Some coaches want you to squat ass to grass (ATG). While others, notably Dr. Joel Seedman (screenshot from https://www.advancedhumanperformance.com/blog/squats-truths below), claim that you should stop your squat around 90 degrees. 

Source: Advanced Human Performance

The two camps primarily disagree about what is dangerous for your spine. And, the movement most often in question is the “butt wink.”

As you lower into a squat, there’s a moment when you get so deep that your lower back (lumber spine) starts to round. 

Source: Girls Gone Strong

If you want to see what this looks like on your own body, find a mirror and it’s easy to assess. Turn sideways to the mirror and then slowly lower into a bodyweight squat. As you reach the bottom of the squat, watch your lower back. If you’re like most people, you’ll see this area slowly “wink” as you go deeper.  

This rounding of the spine, called spinal flexion, isn’t inherently dangerous. Our spines are made to flex, extend, and rotate as human beings. That’s why you likely don’t need to worry about this rounding during movements like that bodyweight squat.  

So, what’s the big deal? Rounding with no weight on your back is not much of a problem. But, once you start adding flexion with weight on your back – and doing it for many reps – such as during a heavy back squat, that’s when the story changes.

Most spine experts consider rounding your low back with load (such as a barbell) to be a risk for your lumbar spine, which means you’re at higher risk of disk injury and back pain. 

Here’s why: Between each bone segment (the vertebrae) of your spine is a gel-filled disk that helps absorb shock. This means when there’s weight on your back, you can transfer it safely throughout your spine. 

When you load your spine, you create a compression force that pushes the vertebrae together and squeezes the intervertebral disks. This isn’t dangerous if you have a healthy spine. (Fun fact: your spine is quite resilient to compression.) 

The issue is when you compress and flex your spine at the same time. This combination of load and flexion increases another force (shear) on your spine. And shear plus compression could increase your chance of injury. 

Source: Stronger By Science

We all have different anatomy, so for you, that injury might not happen for years. But, flex your spine under load for rep after rep, and eventually, you might have a problem on your hands. 

That’s why a butt wink while squatting under load isn’t a good idea for the vast majority of us. 

What causes butt wink? 

People love to blame “tight hamstrings” for difficulty squatting. It’s likely not the cause of the butt wink, so stretching them out before your lifts isn’t going to help you avoid it. 

As Dr. Aaron Horshig breaks down in this video, your hamstrings attach to both your pelvis and your knee, which means they don’t actually lengthen much during your squat. 

Try this: Lay on your back with your legs straight. Now, lock your knees out and slowly lift one leg up. 

I’m guessing you didn’t get very high? That’s because with your leg straight, you are lengthening your hamstring, and eventually, you hit your end range. 

Do it again, but allow your knee to bend 90 degrees as you lift your leg up. 

Feel the difference? You have more range of motion because as you flex your hip (lengthening the hamstring), you also bend the knee (shortening the hamstring). Your entire muscle stays relatively the same length, just like during a squat. 

Instead, the butt wink often comes down to your squat stance and ankle mobility. And to know about both, it’s time to analyze how you move.

Shakira would be proud, but your hips don’t lie. 

Each of us has a unique angle that our femur (the big bone in your thigh) fits into our hip socket. And this angle determines your squat stance. 

Suppose your stance is too narrow or wide (based on your individual hip genetics). In that case, you’ll run out of room in your hip socket when you drive your legs into hip flexion (lowering into the squat). 

When you try to force range of motion, your body compensates. As you run out of room in your hips at the bottom of the squat, your pelvis tilts backward (called posterior pelvic tilt), and your lower back rounds. Hey, butt wink. 

You got to the bottom, but was it really worth it? (more on this in a moment).

Butt wink can also be caused by ankle mobility issues. If you lack the range of motion at your ankle, your body can’t drive your knees forwards as you sit into the squat. Just like when you run out of room in your hips, your body has to find the range of motion somewhere else and prefers your lower back. 

How To Fix Butt Wink

Before we show you how to fix butt wink, we need to talk about the neutral spine. Since that sounds painfully boring, just think of this as your “safe to squat” zone. (Or STS Zone)

When we refer to your STS (aka neutral spine), we’re referring to the position of your lower back during movement. For most, this means a slight curve in your lower back.

Most coaches and physical therapists encourage finding your STS because it offers the most protection to your spine during loaded movement. But, and this is important, it does not entirely reduce the risk of injury. You’ll still need to leave your ego at the door and be smart with progressively overloading your movements. 

Source: Back Forever

Your spine moves a small degree during exercises, even if you’re in your STS zone. Things become dangerous when you stray too far out of this zone. In other words, that’s when the butt wink becomes more aggressive.

Our goal is to squat as deep as possible without your lower back rounding too much. You’ll need to find the right squat stance for you to do this.  

Here’s how to do this: 

Sit into a bodyweight squat. Don’t worry about your back rounding; just drop to the bottom. 

Play around with your squat width and the angle of your feet until you find what feels most comfortable. 

Keep this stance and do a couple of squats to see how the full range of motion feels. 

Sitting into the bottom of the squat like this won’t be comfortable for some. Feel free to grab on to a support. Want to see this process in action? Check out our Instagram post here. 

You’ll also want to experiment with different squat variations. Unless you’re a powerlifter, there’s no rule that you have to back squat. 

If you love the back squats, try to slide small plates (like 2.5 or 5 pounds) underneath your heels, or stand on a wedge. This changes the angle of your hips and allows you to get deeper into a squat without worrying about the wink. 

If you’re looking for squat alternatives, the goblet squat is a better fit for most. This is a variation of the front squat, which helps activate your core and maintain that neutral spine. Once you’re comfortable with the goblet squat, you can also do the more traditional version of the front squat.

You can also try any endless variations of single-leg movements, such as split-squats or Bulgarian split squats, which help reduce the likelihood of the butt wink. 

No matter what, your best guide is usually comfort and pain. If something feels off, don’t force the movement. Find a way to move pain-free, and then add load to make it harder. 

READ MORE

Why Do Squats Hurt? (And How To Fix The Problems)

Valsalva Maneuver: A Technique That Can Save You From Back Pain

The Mystery of Squat Form: How Low Should You Go, Really?  

The post The Right Way to Squat (And Solve The “Butt Wink” Issue) appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Is A Calorie Really A Calorie?

If you ever really need proof about how the human body works, find your way into a metabolic chamber. There are about 30 of them in the world and they cost millions of dollars. They use the best technology to  measure every single ounce of energy that is either consumed or burned. 

These chambers allow scientists to better understand diseases that affect the human body, including things like obesity and metabolic disorders. They also definitively answer the question that’s been debated for decades: calories do matter. And, they are the primary factor that influence whether you gain or lose weight. The question is whether a “calorie is a calorie” and more about understanding why all calories are not equal.

No scheduled trips to your nearest metabolic chamber? Don’t worry. We’ll help you make sense of what foods influence your metabolism and hunger, and how you can make food work for you. 

What Is A Calorie?

We often think of calories as something we eat, but, the truth is, a calorie is simply a unit of energy. More specifically, a calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree celsius. 

What does the temperature of water have to do with calories in your food? Well, scientists determine the amount of calories in a food using a technique we’re all guilty of in the kitchen: they burn it

This process is called bomb calorimetry. First, you place an ingredient in a sealed stainless steel container surrounded by water. Then, heat is applied to the food until it burns. This chemical reaction generates a ton of heat and slowly heats the surrounding water. Scientists then measure how high the temperature of the water rises to calculate the number of calories in the food. 

Although accurate, this process is slowly losing favor. Today, most calories listed by the USDA and FDA are calculated in a different way. Instead of burning the food, the total amount of calories are determined by adding up the calories provided by the individual components of the food. This means determining the amount of energy from the protein, carbohydrates, fat, and alcohol. 

This method works because the calories in a gram of protein, carbohydrates, fat, and alcohol remain constant. Each macronutrient has the following caloric values:

1 gram of protein = 4 calories 

1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories 

1 gram of fat = 9 calories 

1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories 

That’s how you add up the calories in your food. But, that’s not the entire story. As you’re about to find out, macronutrients are metabolized differently, which is why all calories are not equal. Some foods (like protein) burn more calories during digestion, and other foods (like the fiber in your carbs), affect hunger and appetite. 

Understanding how to balance your diet to give you the right amount of sanity – while not letting your hunger go wild – is the key to feeling in control of your diet. 

Why Calories Are Not Equal (And What It Means For Your Meals)

The confusion about calories is less about how many grams are in a particular food after it’s cooked or when it’s in a package, and more about how your body makes use of those calories once you eat and digest food. 

The human body is the greatest machine ever built. You need a certain number of calories to carry out every day functions like breathing, walking, and thinking. And because your very survival depends on calories, your body processes foods differently to help fuel all of your needs. 

To understand how you gain and lose weight, you need to think about energy balance, which is the old calories in vs. calories out debate. Although many things can impact energy balance, the type of calories you consume plays a large role. That’s why all calories aren’t equal.

Your daily metabolic rate is influenced by many things. The three main components are:

Basal metabolic rate (BMR): This is the amount of energy your body needs to work. 

Thermic effect of food (TEF): This is the amount of energy you burn when you eat.

Exercise and activity: This is the calories you burn from movement and exercise. You can split this into different categories, such as NEAT (thins like moving around and fidgeting) and your traditional workouts. 

What most people don’t realize is that 65 to 80 percent of the calories you burn every day is from your basal metabolic rate. Physical activity and the foods you eat make up the remainder of your metabolism, but that doesn’t mean they’re insignificant.  

Protein, carbs, and fat are all metabolized differently. Eating 100 calories of protein is different than eating 100 calories of carbs because protein has a higher thermic effect of food (TEF).

When you eat protein, up to 30 percent of the calories can be burned. In the example above, if you ate 100 calories of protein, roughly 70 calories would hit your body because 30 calories would be burned as a result of the protein’s high TEF.

In other words, the greater the TEF, the more this will influence the “calories out” portion of the calories in minus calories out equation (because not all of those calories will end up in your body and stored). Comparatively, carbs have a TEF of just 5 to 10  percent, and fat is usually around 3 to 5 percent.

This is one reason why higher protein diets tend to be associated with weight loss and maintenance. But, it’s only part of the story. 

The Domino Effect of Eating More Protein

Protein also has a domino effect on hunger that makes it a great foundation for muscle gain and weight loss. 

When you eat protein you increase what’s called satiety. This means a protein-rich meal leaves you feeling fuller and desiring less food (i.e. eating fewer calories). 

It’s why high-calorie (some might consider them empty calories) options like fast food or ice cream can leave you feeling hungry just a few short hours later. It’s not just the calorie count of these foods. It’s that they don’t meet your body’s needs for hunger control, so you desire more food even when your calorie intake is high. These foods are fine to have once in a while, but they make it harder to stay full.  

A high-protein meal can boost the release of a hormone (ghrelin), which helps quiet your hunger and plays a role in determining how quickly your hunger returns after a meal. 

When you combine all of the benefits, it’s easy to see why eating more calories from dietary protein helps create a caloric deficit. Protein burns more calories (the higher TEF) and reduces the “calorie in” portion of the equation by affecting how much you’ll eat later in the day. 

Plus, giving your body the protein it needs to recover from strength training can help you build more muscle mass. 

Protein isn’t the only macronutrient that helps control your hunger. Fiber, which is found in carbohydrates, is also incredibly effective at increasing fullness without adding too many calories. Most fibrous foods have low energy density, which means you can eat a lot without taking in too many calories. 

Learning how to eat the foods that keep you full is a simple way to give you more flexibility. The goal with any diet isn’t too restrict – it’s to provide more freedom. 

If you focus on making at least half of your plate from proteins and fiber, you’re more likely to stay full and not overeat. 

That way, you still have the ability to eat other foods that aren’t as nutritious. For example, although 100 calories from chicken is different from 100 calories from a candy bar — we’re still talking about 100 calories. If the candy bar doesn’t lead to you eating 10 more candy bars, then worrying about those 100 calories is time and stress your mind and body doesn’t need.

It’s why effective diets, in general, can consist of 80 to 90 percent more nutritious foods (think vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, higher fiber carbs, and protein) and 10 to 20 percent of foods with fewer direct health benefits. That’s the type of balance that will deliver results and prevent burnout.

Read More

The Art And Science of Food That Fills You Up

How Food Becomes Belly Fat

Does Having More Muscle Really Increase Your Metabolism?

The post Is A Calorie Really A Calorie? appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Should you train when you’re sick? 

Have Good Gym Etiquette

In general, our approach towards sickness has always been simple: if going to the gym can get others sick, then stay away. That counts for coughs, sniffles, sore throats, fevers, and anything that isn’t general fatigue. Remember, one day is just one day.

That doesn’t mean you can’t workout at home when you’re sick (more on that below), but try to think of others when you’ve got symptoms.  

What About Home Workouts?

Thanks to COVID, most of us have had to train at home at some point in the last few years. The risk of infecting others is low (unlike your toddler’s daycare) and that means the temptation to workout when you’re sick is higher.

Here’s the problem: Your normal workout routine – the one where you’re breathing hard and pushing your body – triggers a stress response in the body. When you’re healthy, your body responds and adapts to this stress to get stronger. 

But when you’re sick, your immune system is already stressed. Adding more stress with a hard workout (or long, challenging run) might overload the system. That means you could get sicker. 

My rule of thumb? If you feel that your sickness will lead to a less intense workout, then avoid your normal workout routine. At Born Fitness, our training philosophy emphasizes intensity. I’d rather have you be healthy and push the limits during a short period of time, than feel like shit your entire workout. 

This doesn’t mean you have to become one with the couch when you’re sick. As long as you’re doing the right type of movement you can continue regular exercise while recovering. 

How To Workout When You’re Sick

First off, be sure to listen to your doctor’s advice when you’re sick. If they recommend avoiding any exercise, they’re likely doing that for a reason. However, if you’re cleared for exercise, low-intensity movement can help you feel better faster and recover sooner. 

What counts as low-intensity exercise? Think of things like walking or an easy pace on your favorite cardio machine if you have one at home. Or, you might do a mobility circuit. My go-to is long walks outside. 

The key is to keep your heart rate lower during the session. You shouldn’t be gasping for breath at any point or even struggling. And remember, low-intensity can look different for each person. Listen to your body and choose an exercise that you can keep an easy pace with. 

Think of these workouts like a day at the spa. You should leave feeling restored and energized, not beat down. 

The Bottom Line

We believe in training with intensity when you workout, but that doesn’t mean you need to PR every workout when you’re healthy. Many of your workouts are going to be “hard hat” days. You just put on your hard hat, even if you’re sore, tired, or not in the mood, and you make it happen. Those days are victories. 

On the other hand, days when you force yourself to train when you’re sick because of an irrational fear of needing to train, are a loss. Learn to pick and choose your battles and hold yourself to a high standard. And, more often than not, it’ll lead to good health.

The post Should you train when you’re sick?  appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Goldilocks Training: How to Maintain Momentum

You might think your inability to stick with a plan comes down to a lack of motivation, or maybe even a fundamental lack of willpower. 

But, willpower isn’t what is holding you back. After years of coaching people as a personal trainer, I’ve discovered that most people struggle to maintain their momentum because they ignore one simple rule.

It’s called The Goldilocks Rule.

It’s a riff off the old tale of Goldilocks and The Three Bears. And, while it might seem ridiculous, finding what’s just right for you is the secret to better health.

The Goldilocks Rule states that we experience peak motivation when working on tasks that provide the right level of resistance, challenge, and complication.

In other words: if you take on new tasks that are too easy or too hard, that’s when motivation, focus, and consistency fall apart.

Let’s say you haven’t exercised in years and want to get back into the gym this year. You’re motivated and excited. Nothing can stop you. So, you decide to try a 5-day, bodybuilder-style workout program designed for 12 weeks. On paper, it looks amazing. The weekly volume and total volume is enough to transform anyone. It has all the best exercises and it’s backed by all the latest exercise science research.

Here’s the issue: If you’re going from zero workouts to 5 days per week, the likelihood of success is low. It’s too big of a jump on every level. From the discipline to go 5 days a week, to the total amount of work (and stress) you’ll put on your body, it’s not practical or realistic.

Remember, with Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the focus was on finding a good fit. Picking the right program is the same. When you take on too much too soon, it’s easy to predict when you’ll miss a day or two. The missed days could frustrate you to quit the plan prematurely. Or, the dramatic jump from no workouts to lots of weekly volume increases the likelihood of injury, which can lessen your confidence.

And, that’s before we consider the squeeze this puts on your calendar. Let’s assume each workout is 60 minutes long. The move from 0 minutes of exercise to 300 minutes of exercise per week is ambitious and monumental.

You’re told you need to train a certain way to see changes. In reality, small jumps will still deliver changes, and — as you improve — you increase what you do. It’s cliche to tell people to enjoy the journey, but there’s a very real lesson in that wisdom. If you expect too much too soon, then you’ll rarely see the results you want.

How to Pick A Better Path

When motivation is high, you want to believe you can do anything (and you can). However, achieving your goals means creating a path that makes it more likely for you to succeed, not just diving head-first into a plan without considering your starting point.

When you don’t consider the path, the results usually don’t follow.

Here’s what typically happens: You might hit all of your sessions during the first week (or two) while motivation is high (assuming the soreness doesn’t crush you), but once reality catches up with you, that’s when consistency and willpower begin to fade and you lose momentum and drive.

You know what’s too common with “great” fitness programs? Overuse injury.

You know what’s frustrating with many workouts? Unrealistic timelines and expectations. 

You know what’s not needed to see results? Living in the gym or slaving over every meal. 

Time and time again, the best results come from small changes that you can repeat over-and-over again with as little stress as possible. 

If you’re trying to get back into the game  — and win — consistency is your competitive advantage. Even if your start might seem slow, it’s not.

To chart a better path, create a baseline of where you’re starting and where you want to finish. The baseline can include things like your fitness level, how many times you workout per week, and which meals are easy (and hard).

You don’t need a personal trainer to tell you what will work within your schedule. You know what’s doable to start. You need to create some friction and change, but it can’t be disruptive. In fact, the best personal trainers know that helping you change is less about exercise science and more about creating a plan that works for your life.

Here’s a pro tip that’s worth remembering any time you’re struggling: It’s important to differentiate and figure out what’s “just enough” rather than what’s ideal. “Just enough” meets you where you’re at and is doable. And when something is doable, you do it repeatedly, confidence grows, habits form, behaviors change, and you get better.

To make sure this year is different, let your action develop into results. Find a plan that sounds challenging but also that you’re 95% confident you can do without a doubt for the next 4 to 6 months.

Illustration: The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness

Better to achieve mastery and progress than to struggle, fail, and have to pick yourself up from ground zero. And if you’re crushing the plan, you can always increase the difficulty later.

This approach will help you accomplish small wins early and often, so you can keep pushing forward with confidence for the upcoming year.

The post Goldilocks Training: How to Maintain Momentum appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Spiraled Baked Potato with Garlic and Butter

Potatoes make a great snack or side dish to any main meal. They are a great source of carbs and that translates to energy for the body and brain.

Sweet potatoes are often inaccurately touted as superior to white potatoes. The truth is, you can confidently use either white potatoes or sweet potatoes—both are highly nutritious.

How to make a simple baked potato:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Soak wooden skewers in water for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, poke the potato all over with a fork then microwave on high for 3-5 minutes until soft enough to poke with skewer lengthwise.

With a sharp knife start at an angle and cut down to the skewer, continuing to cut while rotating the potato away from you to make spiraled rows 1/2 apart.

Fan out the potato and place it in a small baking dish.

Brush melted butter and garlic on each potato.

Bake for 25-35 minutes until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

The post Spiraled Baked Potato with Garlic and Butter appeared first on Born Fitness.

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The Magic Pill Is The Way

For years, I’ve been saying there is no magic pill.

But, maybe I was wrong.

The magic pill is recognizing the magic pills. And avoiding them.

When you see or hear any “expert” claiming to have identified a single problem that will solve all of your issues, that’s when you know the approach is wrong.

With so many people blaming everything from fat to carbs, hormones to toxins, inflammation and dairy, animal foods, and sugar — it becomes an easy threshold to separate the shortsighted from the beneficial. If you listened to them all, you wouldn’t be able to eat anything.

Weight loss, muscle gain, and general health are complicated. There are rules and habits that will get you there. But, there’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all.

Learn to see the magic pills (and avoid them) and you’ll have less stress and, hopefully, better health.

The post The Magic Pill Is The Way appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Get the Tea on Turmeric

Turmeric has been used in Ayurveda and other traditional medicines for many years. It is promoted for its anti-inflammatory properties and used as a spice across many popular cuisines. Present day research shows that there could be an association between Turmeric and its healing properties, however, some studies have conflicting results.

What does that mean for you?

It means it may or may not have an effect, but is general safe in regular amounts.

We also know it tastes great as an iced tea on warm days.

Iced Turmeric and Cinnamon Tea Ingredients

Oolong tea

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Coconut milk

Lemon Slices

How To

Brew a cup of Oolong Tea.

While you are waiting for the teat to brew, add spices. Mix well.

Pour over ice and add a splash of coconut milk.

Serve with lemon slices.

  The post Get the Tea on Turmeric appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Do You Need To Drop $200+ On A Massage Gun? 

If recovery is a big part of the recipe for better fitness and overall wellness, then deep tissue massage has been an age-old secret ingredient for helping muscle pain and sore muscles. 

The emergence of foam rollers showed that there was more than one way to improve your soft tissue and bring pain relief. 

But, is it possible that there’s an even better way?

The Theragun by Therabody — and it’s competitor, the HyperIce Hypervolt —  is part of a new fitness product trend that allows you to deliver “percussion massage therapy” in the palm of your hand.  

In other words, it’s a handheld device that’s designed to give you elements of a physical therapist who does massage or trigger point therapy — but without the actual therapist. 

At Born Fitness, we’ve received endless questions from our clients (like the one below) about whether this new wave of recovery tool is worth the investment. 

Theragun vs. HyperIce: What You Need To Know

The battle for handheld massage gun supremacy likely has more to do with minor details right now. 

In terms of what each device will do for your body, the methods are very similar. 

Both Theragun and HyperIce are ergonomic devices. They are both technically a “percussion massager” because they are shaped like a jigsaw and deliver fast (yet soft) bursts of pressure to your muscles. That pressure is delivered at some serious speed. 

The Theragun completes about 40 revolutions (touching your skin and then lifting off) every second, while the HyperVolt promises up to 3200 revolutions per minute (~53 revolutions every second). 

Theragun claims that these percussive massage blows help reduce muscle tension and promote blood flow. 

Both devices can be used for a warm-up or to target muscle groups that might be causing some pain or are slow to recovery. 

If you’re into anecdotal evidence and popular opinion, most people swear by them. Professional athletes in almost every sport use the devices. Even Cristiano Ronaldo has been spotted using one while lounging on leopard print pillows. 

But, are there any studies supporting the effectiveness of these devices? 

Massage Gun Research: Are They Effective?

Research on the exact devices is very limited right now, mostly because both Theragun and HyperIce are relatively new devices. 

But, the idea of a massager gun is rooted in research done on vibration massage. 

The earliest research predates the handy devices. Back in 2014, researchers compared vibration massage, regular massage, and no massage. If you received any type of massage — vibration or regular — it led to improvements in muscle soreness, muscle damage, and improved range of motion. And, the benefits appeared to last between 24 to 72 hours. 

And, in 2017, a research team found that vibration therapy could help reduce DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and improve range of motion. For those not familiar, DOMS is the soreness that tends to kick into high gear about 1-2 days after your workout.

While vibration training gave a benefit, it wasn’t unique to the vibration. Traditional massage provides the same muscle-soreness-reducing benefits, so that likely isn’t a unique benefit. 

More recently, vibration was compared to foam rolling. After all, a $20 foam roller is just a bit cheaper.

The 2019 study found similar benefits for foam rolling and vibration foam rolling, which means both are good recovery options. If you want extra benefits, the participants who used vibration also experienced a reduction in pain perception and better range of motion compared to foam rolling. 

The most recent work was this study, which was one of the first to focus on the benefits of a massage gun. 

The researchers found that using a percussion massager (AKA the massage gun) for 5-minutes improved ankle range of motion yet had little effect on strength. This means you could potentially use the tool before your workout to help improve your movement on exercises, such as being able to go deeper on a squat thanks to improved calf mobility. 

What’s the Difference Between a Massage Gun and Foam Rolling?

Whether you’re using your gym’s old foam roller or a top-of-the-line percussion device, you’re not actually “changing” tissue in your body. 

That’s because you can’t make a muscle longer. Not even deep tissue massage does that. 

But, it is possible to increase blood flow (not backed by research just yet as it’s hard to measure) and, more importantly, reduce muscle tone. This is where you improve your range of motion. 

The foam roller gets the job done in many ways, just like massage. That said, handheld devices offer versatility and might have some real advantages that make it more practical for you to aid your recovery.

A foam roller is a blunt-force object. It’s great for hitting wide, accessible areas like the front of your legs but the wrong tool for targeted treatment. 

With percussion devices like the Theragun or HyperVolt, you can seek and destroy smaller areas like your shoulders. 

Each of them also offer various head attachments that are designed to treat different sections of your body. For example, Theragun offers a massage head called the Supersoft Attachment, which is designed for extremely sore muscles and sensitive areas. 

Plus, have you ever tried to carry on a foam roller? Both Therabody and Hypervice have created smaller devices designed to take anywhere. 

For Therabody, it’s the Theragun Mini and for Hyperice, the Hypervolt Go. The smaller percussion massage devices offer more versatility with the ability to fit in your backpack, so you can take them anywhere. 

The Theragun also has a pretty cool app that will guide you through different massage classes. The device alerts you when it’s time to switch to a different body part during the course. 

And although they are expensive (starting at ~$200), if you’re someone who gets regular massages at $100 a pop, your Theragun or Hypervolt is going to pay for itself in one month. 

We typically advise our clients to make the purchase based on a combination of benefits and budget. 

If you can afford it, then the device certainly has some benefits and it can help with muscle recovery and soreness. 

Not into shelling out the cash or looking for an alternative that fits into your price point? Current research suggests that any type of massage might have similar results, which means you can achieve similar results with foam rollers, lacrosse balls, and possibly sweet-talking your significant other. 

And remember, massage guns and other forms of recovery gear will never replace your recovery foundation. No amount of massage treatment will offset poor sleep and nutrition, so make sure you continue to prioritize those goals. 

The post Do You Need To Drop $200+ On A Massage Gun?  appeared first on Born Fitness.

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The Truth About OrangeTheory Workouts

When people find out I’m a trainer, there’s a moment where I’m tested. It happened recently at a dinner with my girlfriend’s family. The conversation turned to OrangeTheory, the popular bootcamp style of workouts that is a variety of weights and cardio supported by technology. 

My girlfriend’s sister, Katie, had been going to a local franchise for the last few months and everyone wanted to know what I thought of the workout. 

I could tell everyone thought I would tear into OrangeTheory with more intensity than the dessert I just demolished. 

But, my response surprised everyone — and it’s an important reminder when trying to find the right workout for you. 

How to Find the Right Workout For You?

I’ve been training people for more than 15 years, including some big names. But, when people ask me what I think about their workout plan, my initial response usually catches them off guard. 

I started by finding out how many times per week someone wants to exercise and how often they are hitting that goal. 

I call this the consistency ratio, and it’s the most underrated aspect of finding the right workout for your goals and your body. 

The “best workouts” are the ones that work for you. But, “working for you” is less about reps and sets and more about consistency and sustainability. 

If you’re given the world’s greatest program, but you can only do it 50 percent of the time for a couple months, your results will be underwhelmed. If you compared that approach to an“inferior program” that you complete 80 percent of the time for a year, you would see much better results on the hypothetically worse program. 

The reason is obvious: results are about keeping you engaged and getting you to work hard. You can always “optimize” later, but consistency (not perfection) always comes first. That includes both your diet and workout. 

But, with so many options — from online coaching, digital streaming, bootcamps, apps, and 1-on-1 training — finding what works for you isn’t as easy as it seems. 

So, the first place to start is considering variables that might make it harder for you to want to workout. 

This includes things such as:

What is the workout environment?

Are you doing exercises that make you feel comfortable and confident?

If not, do you have the support to help you gain that confidence?

Do you have fun doing some (not necessarily all) of the workouts?

Do you feel it’s making you better?

Are you taking action and making it happen, or finding reasons to avoid it?

Does it fit into your lifestyle — or cause such a dramatic change that you can’t wait till you’re done with the program?

There are many other considerations, but anything that increases your consistency ratio to about 80 percent (or more) is the sweet spot for results. 

Are there some things I don’t like about OrangeTheory? 

You bet, and we’re going to cover those in more detail below. 

But, those details don’t matter as much as showing up week-after-week. 

Is OrangeTheory a Good Workout?

Back to my girlfriend’s sister. For the first time in her life, she was consistently exercising. So, I encouraged her to keep going as long as none of the movements were causing pain. 

If you’ve found something that works, don’t worry about the details right now. Just keep showing up. 

As for OrangeTheory itself, it has some elements that help people both from a consistency standpoint, the environment, and the workouts themselves. 

OrangeTheory workouts are an hour-long full-body experience, which mixes cardio and weights as a way to improve endurance, strength, and power. And, everything is supported by heart rate monitors, which measure your progress throughout the workout and share your results on video boards. 

The workouts can support either fat loss or muscle gain (depending on how you adjust your diet), and it really caters to those who enjoy working in group classes.

I may love training in dark garages, but many people struggle training in isolated spaces. 

Training in a large group, like at OrangeTheory, is motivating and far less intimidating than 1-on-1 training. 

As Katie (my girlfriend’s sister) shared, 

“It was able to teach me exercises that I could use outside of their gym that I never knew how to do before or wouldn’t be comfortable trying by myself in an average gym.” 

And the relationships you develop can help hold you accountable because others will know when you skip. 

The camaraderie of group workouts is an undeniable benefit. Oh, and, for better or worse, when everyone can see your heart rate on the video screens — as is the case , you’re less likely to phone it in. 

Plus, Orange Theory gamifies the workouts, which can also help with motivation. 

During a workout, you’re awarded “splat” points. These splat points indicate minutes spent in the high-intensity heart rate zones. 

Orange Theory’s website suggests you should aim for 12 splat points each workout to maximize calorie burning (more on that below).

Orange Theory does get some things right when it comes to the workouts if your goal is fat loss. 

Although half of the time is spent on the treadmill (or bike or strider), the workouts include strength training. Coaches combine 2-3 strength training moves together, alternating between upper body, lower body, and core movements. 

Called “tri-sets” or mini-circuits, this is a solid setup for a fat loss workout and one we use with some Born Fitness clients. 

They also pair these circuits with cardio sprint efforts, usually on the rower, before returning to the strength circuit for another set. We use this strategy at Born Fitness as well, although only with more advanced clients (and for limited amounts of time, more on that below).

Where Orange Theory Can Improve

From a workout standpoint, there are a few areas that you might want to consider before starting an OrangeTheory program. Again, these aren’t reasons the approach is bad, but things that might not be a good fit for you. 

Issue #1: No Cycling Intensity

When you combine 26-28 minutes of treadmill-based cardio and 26-28 minutes of high-intensity circuit-based strength training, you’re pushing your body at a high level for a long period of time.

This leads us to my first point of contention with OrangeTheory: it uses maximum intensity as a badge of honor, which doesn’t always lead to great results. 

It’s important to be mindful of what makes a “great” workout. Yes, intensity is required, but in the right amounts.

Qualifying a workout as “good” only if you burn 800 calories and finish with sweat angels on the floor is a slippery slope. Plus, this can lead to developing a mindset of earning your food with intense exercise sessions for some people.

You need to train hard, and OrangeTheory will teach you how to do that. But, high-intensity workouts without adjustments will not only lead to diminishing returns, but could lead to burnout and increase your chance of injury. 

A pattern I’ll often use with clients in our coaching program is 1-2 strength phases followed by a 4-5 week high-intensity circuit phase. We cycle intensity and rest to ensure you make progress and challenge your body in different ways. 

Issue #2: A Narrow Approach to Cardio 

While high-intensity cardio is an excellent tool for improving your aerobic fitness, it’s not necessary to dramatically change your body. 

A new study suggests that high-intensity exercise and moderate-intensity exercise work equally well when it comes to fat loss.  

The meta-analysis (study of studies) examined 55 different studies to investigate the differences between HICE (high-intensity interval exercise) and MICE (moderate-intensity continuous exercise).

HICE training had several benefits, such as building aerobic capacity (called VO2 max), delivering oxygen to your muscles, and improving overall cardiovascular health. 

But, if you’re just focused on fat loss, both HICE and MICE seem to work equally well. 

Issue #3: Difficulty Personalizing Group Workouts

This isn’t specific to OrangeTheory, as most group training programs made for the masses can do a lot of good, but they have a potential limitation. 

OrangeTheory strength training workouts appear to be random. 

Random workouts might be entertaining (and will make you sweaty), but how do you know if you’re getting stronger in a particular movement? 

And when you pair your strength moves with cardio bursts, you’re less likely to recover between sets. Shorter recovery means you’re unable to load up the moves set-after-set to challenge yourself enough to build (or maintain) lean muscle. 

Remember, when you’re strength training during fat loss periods, you want to maintain as much lean muscle as possible, not endlessly burn calories that could mean you’re losing muscle and fat. 

To do that, you need to do more work (sets x reps) gradually over time. The simplest way to do that is tracking your workouts and repeating those workouts over a 3-5 week period. 

All that said, we can critique almost any workout. If Orange Theory is helping you be consistent with your exercise, is not causing injury, and is an environment you enjoy, then you should feel confident sticking with it and seeing where it takes you.

READ MORE

Periodization: How to figure out the right workout for you

The Fitness Not To Do List

Beware Of The Next Trend

The post The Truth About OrangeTheory Workouts appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Peaches and Greens Smoothie

What You Need

1 small handful spinach

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 c. Unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Frozen peach slices (1 peach)

1 scoop unflavored protein powder

1 tsp Chia seeds

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Note: If you did not have time to freeze peaches ahead of time, make sure to add ice to this recipe. 

How To

Combine ingredients. Blend until smooth.

The post Peaches and Greens Smoothie appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Look Up or Look Down

Looking up is what happens when you choose to believe you have control over some aspects of your life. 

Looking down is what happens when you believe you’re a victim of life and circumstance. 

Looking up is a way to survive and thrive through difficult times; it requires courage, optimism, belief, and accountability. 

Looking down is a way to “create” worse situations and turn the illusion of bad luck into a reality. It feeds on negativity, excuses, doubt, and disbelief.

The way you look will influence where you go. 

Even though we don’t have much control over many things in life, focusing on what we do control — like looking up — can completely change the direction of your life. 

When you look up, the good becomes better, the bad becomes good, and the desperate becomes hopeful. 

You can’t put a value or measure the impact of perspective and mindset; but in the game of life, it is your most invaluable asset.

  READ MORE

The Illusion Of Commitment

The Big 4

Move Boulders, Not Pebbles

The post Look Up or Look Down appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Baked Eggs and Veggies

Baked Eggs & Veggies Ingredients

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, sliced thin

5 cups squash, cubed

6-8 cups collard greens, chopped

4 small sausage links, chopped

4 eggs

2 Tbsp feta

Drizzle olive oil

Fresh thyme

Salt and Pepper

How To

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a hot skillet with olive oil, sauté onions, bell pepper, and squash for 8-10 minutes. Add greens cooking until wilted.

Transfer veggie mix to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add sausage and fresh thyme.

Create 4 trenches for your eggs. Using a ramekin for each egg, slowly drop one egg in each trench. Bake for 10 minutes.

Add feta. Cook for 5 more minutes or until sausage is cooked and eggs are firm.

Add a dash of salt and pepper.

Serve with toast!

The post Baked Eggs and Veggies appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Grilled Farro Salad

Farro is an ancient grain loaded with fiber, zinc, magnesium, and B3. And provides 6g of protein per 1/4 cup! What is so great about those nutrients? Together they provide immune support, healthy bones and muscle function, energy, and regulates blood glucose levels.

What you need

Yields 4 servings

1 cup dry Farro, rinsed and cooked to package directions

4 medium radishes, grilled and chopped

5-10 Shishito peppers, grilled and diced

1 cob corn, grilled and kernels removed

1 plum tomato, diced

1/2 Tbsp olive oil

Juice of one lime

Salt and Pepper

4 Romaine hearts, halved and grilled

How To

Grill radishes and corn on medium heat for 8-10 minutes. (Note: Peppers cook a little faster so check for grill marks at about 5 minutes)

Combine cooked Farrow, diced vegetables, tomato, oil, lime juice, and a few dashes of S+P.

Serve with grilled Romaine for a complete meal.

(1 head of Romaine per person)

The post Grilled Farro Salad appeared first on Born Fitness.

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The Rabbit Hole: How Much Protein Per Meal?

I’m no stranger to questions and concerns about how much protein you can enjoy. I’ve seen everything from worries about kidney damage (not scientific evidence for those with healthy kidneys) to (very wishful) thinking that high levels of protein will automatically transform into muscle. If only it were that simple.

But, the most common question usually revolves around, “How much protein can I eat in one meal?”

Personally, I like this question because it’s practical. You want to eat and enjoy. That’s always my first rule for meals. But, for many people (including those in here), you’re also eating for some health goal. So the question makes sense because science makes it hard to understand, “How much?”

A lot of what you’ll see online suggests that you only “need” 20 to 30 grams per meal. That gets twisted into you can only “use” 20 to 30 grams of protein. So let’s clear that up: You can digest and eat much more than 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal. 

It’s true that somewhere around 30 grams you will maximize muscle protein synthesis (the process of using protein for building muscle), but that’s not the only reason to eat protein. And, if you eat more than 30 grams in a meal, there are many additional benefits to eating more beyond muscle protein synthesis. 

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The post The Rabbit Hole: How Much Protein Per Meal? appeared first on Born Fitness.